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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: pop · patient · pit · capital · dip · kick · cue · degree

  1. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. degree — from a university
  3. pop — soda
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. pop — music
  6. pop — to visit
  7. cue — a hint
  8. capital — money
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. dip — to sink
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. degree — an amount
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. capital — a city
  18. cue — for pool
  19. pit — in a race
  20. degree — temperature
  21. pit — a hole
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. kick — in football

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