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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.

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: ball · capital · racket · degree · fine · shower · spell · tear

  1. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. ball — a dance
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. degree — from a university
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. tear — from crying
  9. fine — high quality
  10. spell — magic
  11. capital — money
  12. fine — all right
  13. degree — an amount
  14. spell — a short time
  15. degree — temperature
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. spell — letters
  19. tear — from crying
  20. capital — a city
  21. tear — to rip
  22. ball — a great time
  23. shower — rain
  24. shower — to wash

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