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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: coach · capital · bound · cold · lean · chip · degree · rest

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. bound — obliged
  3. bound — certain
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. lean — to bend
  6. cold — an illness
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. bound — tied together
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. cold — not warm
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. capital — a city
  13. degree — from a university
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. lean — thin
  16. rest — a break
  17. degree — temperature
  18. rest — what's left
  19. capital — money
  20. chip — to eat
  21. chip — for betting
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. rest — what's left
  24. capital — a big letter

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