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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: capital · degree · bat · rush · content · roll · wave · squash

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. roll — a list
  3. squash — the sport
  4. squash — to crush
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. degree — temperature
  8. roll — a cake
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. rush — hurry
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. content — happy
  14. bat — the animal
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. degree — an amount
  18. degree — from a university
  19. content — the amount
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. capital — money
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. capital — a city

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com