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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
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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: bark · wave · ball · stock · spring · present · capital · degree

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. degree — an amount
  3. capital — a city
  4. spring — the season
  5. present — the time now
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. stock — goods
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. ball — a dance
  11. spring — of water
  12. spring — a coil
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. degree — temperature
  16. stock — shares
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. present — there
  19. bark — to shout
  20. present — a gift
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. capital — money
  24. degree — from a university

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