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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: deal · bound · capital · chest · branch · root · degree · bowl

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. root — of a word
  4. chest — of your body
  5. chest — a box
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. bound — obliged
  8. root — the cause
  9. deal — to handle
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. bound — tied together
  12. capital — a city
  13. branch — a division
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. degree — from a university
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. chest — of your body
  18. bowl — a football final
  19. bound — certain
  20. capital — money
  21. degree — temperature
  22. root — of a plant
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. capital — a big letter

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