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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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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 · shower · rest · degree · last · ground · staff · coach

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. last — final
  4. staff — a stick
  5. rest — what's left
  6. shower — to wash
  7. degree — from a university
  8. rest — what's left
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. degree — an amount
  11. ground — the earth
  12. rest — a break
  13. staff — employees
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. last — to go on
  17. last — finally
  18. degree — temperature
  19. staff — employees
  20. ground — a position
  21. capital — a city
  22. shower — rain
  23. ground — crushed
  24. capital — money

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