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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: capital · kick · degree · shower · calf · stock · date · root

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. degree — temperature
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. capital — a city
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. root — of a word
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. date — the fruit
  11. stock — goods
  12. shower — rain
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. stock — shares
  16. root — of a plant
  17. degree — from a university
  18. kick — in football
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. degree — an amount
  21. capital — money
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. root — the cause
  24. calf — a young animal

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