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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: wave · capital · bat · pop · charge · court · degree · chair

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The tickets are free of ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. charge — electricity
  3. bat — the animal
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. court — of a king
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. court — of law
  13. pop — soda
  14. pop — to visit
  15. charge — in control
  16. court — for sport
  17. capital — money
  18. charge — a price
  19. capital — a city
  20. degree — from a university
  21. degree — temperature
  22. chair — a leader
  23. pop — music
  24. bat — in an idiom

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