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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 120 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: prune · rush · can · cold · degree · capital · court · pass

  1. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. cold — an illness
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. court — of law
  6. capital — a city
  7. degree — an amount
  8. rush — hurry
  9. cold — not warm
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. degree — temperature
  12. court — of a king
  13. prune — to trim
  14. can — to be able to
  15. degree — from a university
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. prune — to trim
  19. pass — a permit
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. can — a tin
  23. capital — money
  24. court — for sport

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