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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 · roll · wave · file · court · capital · bat · can

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. degree — an amount
  3. file — a document
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. court — for sport
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. bat — the animal
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. file — a tool
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. roll — a cake
  12. court — of a king
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. roll — a list
  15. degree — temperature
  16. can — to be able to
  17. can — a tin
  18. capital — a city
  19. file — a line of people
  20. capital — money
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. court — of law
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. can — a tin

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