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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: degree · season · mine · plane · wound · staff · chest · capital

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. plane — a tool
  4. mine — for digging
  5. capital — money
  6. season — of the year
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. staff — employees
  9. season — in sport
  10. staff — a stick
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. chest — a box
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. wound — an injury
  15. chest — of your body
  16. capital — a city
  17. staff — employees
  18. degree — from a university
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. chest — of your body
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. wound — an injury
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. degree — temperature

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