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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: cap · file · stock · capital · degree · bass · root · spell

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. cap — of ice
  3. file — a document
  4. file — a line of people
  5. bass — the fish
  6. cap — a hat
  7. degree — an amount
  8. stock — goods
  9. degree — temperature
  10. spell — letters
  11. file — a tool
  12. capital — a city
  13. root — the cause
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. bass — low music
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. degree — from a university
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. spell — magic
  20. root — of a plant
  21. root — of a word
  22. spell — a short time
  23. capital — money
  24. cap — a lid

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