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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: kick · degree · fine · rush · capital · mark · scale · file

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. degree — from a university
  3. capital — money
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. file — a document
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. mark — a grade
  9. file — a line of people
  10. degree — temperature
  11. file — a tool
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. scale — size or range
  15. scale — in music
  16. fine — high quality
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. capital — a city
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. kick — in football
  22. mark — a trace
  23. fine — all right
  24. degree — an amount

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