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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.

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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: cell · perch · row · date · capital · board · calf · degree

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. degree — from a university
  3. capital — a city
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. cell — a phone
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. degree — an amount
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. row — a line
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. board — a committee
  18. row — to paddle
  19. date — the fruit
  20. board — to get on
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. perch — the fish
  23. degree — temperature
  24. cell — in biology

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