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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: ground · degree · object · kid · plane · wind · hand · capital

  1. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — in geometry
  2. capital — money
  3. kid — to tease
  4. ground — a position
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. degree — an amount
  7. capital — a city
  8. wind — moving air
  9. hand — in cards
  10. kid — child
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. object — to protest
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. ground — the earth
  15. plane — a tool
  16. ground — crushed
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. object — an aim
  19. degree — temperature
  20. object — a thing
  21. wind — moving air
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. hand — help
  24. degree — from a university

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