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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.

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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: trunk · chip · degree · capital · wake · spring · content · deal

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. deal — to handle
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. spring — a coil
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. degree — an amount
  8. content — happy
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. chip — to eat
  11. capital — money
  12. spring — of water
  13. chip — for betting
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. capital — a city
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. degree — temperature
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. content — the amount
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. wake — a trail
  24. spring — the season

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