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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 116 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: degree · board · cold · ruler · content · spell · bay · capital

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. My mare is ________________ in color.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. bay — to keep at bay
  3. spell — a short time
  4. spell — magic
  5. board — to get on
  6. ruler — a monarch
  7. degree — from a university
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. content — the amount
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. capital — a city
  14. spell — letters
  15. capital — money
  16. bay — a horse colour
  17. content — happy
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. degree — an amount
  20. cold — an illness
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. degree — temperature
  23. board — a committee
  24. ruler — for measuring

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