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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.

Make a worksheet

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: degree · mine · capital · rash · press · trunk · court · arm

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. degree — temperature
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. capital — a city
  5. court — for sport
  6. press — to push
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. press — a publisher
  9. degree — from a university
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. rash — a series
  14. degree — an amount
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. court — of a king
  20. mine — for digging
  21. press — newspapers
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. rash — hasty
  24. court — of law

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