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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: mouse · stock · degree · clip · spring · kick · capital · roll

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. roll — a list
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. degree — an amount
  5. spring — of water
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. roll — a cake
  8. stock — shares
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. spring — the season
  11. capital — a city
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. spring — a coil
  14. clip — for paper
  15. clip — a video
  16. capital — money
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. stock — goods
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. kick — in football
  22. degree — temperature
  23. clip — to cut
  24. mouse — for a computer

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