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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: temple · bark · rest · wave · capital · bat · cabinet · degree

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. capital — money
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. bark — to shout
  10. degree — from a university
  11. rest — what's left
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. bat — the animal
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. capital — a city
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. rest — what's left
  23. degree — temperature
  24. degree — an amount

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