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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 120 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: degree · face · stem · capital · tear · wind · track · cabinet

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. tear — from crying
  5. capital — money
  6. tear — from crying
  7. degree — an amount
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. degree — from a university
  10. track — to keep track
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. track — a song
  13. tear — to rip
  14. capital — a city
  15. stem — to come from
  16. face — part of the head
  17. face — to confront
  18. face — to point toward
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. wind — moving air
  22. wind — moving air
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. track — a path

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