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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: pitcher · mug · kick · capital · staff · ball · degree · bat

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. mug — a face
  4. staff — a stick
  5. mug — to rob
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. mug — a cup
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. staff — employees
  11. degree — temperature
  12. degree — from a university
  13. capital — a city
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. ball — a dance
  16. ball — a great time
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. degree — an amount
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. kick — in football
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. bat — the animal
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. staff — employees

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