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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
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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: mate · cue · hand · march · degree · mine · kick · capital

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. hand — help
  3. march — the month
  4. cue — for pool
  5. mate — to breed
  6. cue — a signal
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. degree — from a university
  9. mine — for digging
  10. march — music
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. mate — a partner
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. march — the month
  17. degree — temperature
  18. capital — money
  19. cue — a hint
  20. mate — a friend
  21. kick — in football
  22. capital — a city
  23. hand — in cards
  24. hand — part of the body

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