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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: cell · dip · rush · field · cap · degree · capital · fine

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. capital — money
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. cap — of ice
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. dip — to sink
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. degree — temperature
  10. fine — all right
  11. cell — a phone
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. cap — a lid
  15. cell — in biology
  16. degree — from a university
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. degree — an amount
  19. field — farmland
  20. rush — hurry
  21. field — for sport
  22. cap — a hat
  23. capital — a city
  24. field — a subject

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