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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: degree · stem · bound · capital · face · leaves · game · bark

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. degree — an amount
  3. bound — tied together
  4. capital — money
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. bark — to shout
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. face — to point toward
  9. capital — a city
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. face — part of the head
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. bound — certain
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. degree — temperature
  18. game — a match
  19. stem — to come from
  20. game — wild animals
  21. degree — from a university
  22. bound — obliged
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. bark — of a tree

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