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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: cell · track · degree · lie · capital · spell · kick · drill

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. track — a path
  3. capital — a city
  4. lie — to recline
  5. kick — in football
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. degree — temperature
  9. capital — money
  10. drill — the tool
  11. degree — an amount
  12. drill — a practice
  13. drill — army training
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. cell — a phone
  17. spell — magic
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. track — to keep track
  20. track — a song
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. degree — from a university
  23. cell — in biology
  24. spell — a short time

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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