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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 · bowl · sharp · foot · hand · ball · degree · squash

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. degree — an amount
  3. hand — in cards
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. degree — from a university
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. squash — to crush
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. squash — the sport
  12. ball — a dance
  13. ball — a great time
  14. hand — help
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. degree — temperature
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. capital — money
  19. sharp — clever
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. foot — a measure

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