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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: row · capital · snap · key · degree · content · bulb · scale

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. bulb — for light
  3. degree — from a university
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. key — for a lock
  6. capital — a city
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. capital — money
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. row — to paddle
  12. degree — temperature
  13. key — in music
  14. snap — to click
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. scale — in music
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. scale — size or range
  19. content — happy
  20. degree — an amount
  21. row — a line
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. bulb — for light
  24. content — the 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