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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: capital · craft · leaves · tube · date · cold · degree · pound

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. pound — a weight
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. degree — from a university
  9. tube — a container
  10. degree — an amount
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. degree — temperature
  13. capital — money
  14. craft — a skill
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. cold — an illness
  19. date — the fruit
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. tube — the underground
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. capital — a city
  24. craft — boats

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