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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: tear · spring · march · rule · degree · object · capital · scale

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. tear — to rip
  3. rule — a law
  4. spring — the season
  5. spring — a coil
  6. object — an aim
  7. object — a thing
  8. rule — government
  9. tear — from crying
  10. march — music
  11. degree — from a university
  12. march — the month
  13. spring — of water
  14. scale — in music
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. tear — from crying
  17. capital — a city
  18. object — to protest
  19. degree — temperature
  20. march — the month
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. degree — an amount
  23. scale — size or range
  24. scale — for weighing

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