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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: wave · capital · hand · deal · race · bound · track · degree

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. race — a contest
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. track — a song
  5. capital — a city
  6. hand — help
  7. deal — to handle
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. track — to keep track
  10. degree — an amount
  11. bound — obliged
  12. race — humankind
  13. race — the arms race
  14. hand — in cards
  15. bound — certain
  16. bound — tied together
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. track — a path
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. capital — money
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. degree — from a university
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. wave — with your hand

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