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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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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: bound · capital · pound · degree · face · rest · pit · kid

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. pound — a weight
  3. rest — what's left
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. capital — a city
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. bound — certain
  9. kid — child
  10. pit — a hole
  11. face — to point toward
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. degree — from a university
  14. capital — money
  15. face — to confront
  16. kid — to tease
  17. bound — obliged
  18. bound — tied together
  19. rest — what's left
  20. rest — a break
  21. pit — in a race
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. face — part of the head
  24. degree — temperature

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