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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: spell · suit · patient · tear · degree · clip · charge · capital

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. When will it ________________ you to start?
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. The tickets are free of ________________.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. capital — money
  4. degree — an amount
  5. clip — a video
  6. suit — to fit
  7. spell — letters
  8. capital — a city
  9. suit — clothes
  10. tear — from crying
  11. spell — magic
  12. tear — to rip
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. tear — from crying
  15. spell — a short time
  16. charge — a price
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. suit — in cards
  19. clip — for paper
  20. degree — temperature
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. charge — in control
  23. charge — electricity
  24. clip — to cut

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