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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: root · roll · pit · bat · craft · capital · cold · degree

  1. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. roll — a list
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. degree — temperature
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. root — the cause
  8. craft — boats
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. degree — an amount
  12. capital — money
  13. degree — from a university
  14. bat — the animal
  15. root — of a word
  16. cold — an illness
  17. root — of a plant
  18. pit — in a race
  19. cold — not warm
  20. roll — a cake
  21. pit — a hole
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. capital — a city
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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