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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: bark · ground · foot · cell · capital · ball · temple · degree

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. degree — from a university
  4. cell — a phone
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. bark — to shout
  8. ground — the earth
  9. ball — a dance
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. foot — a measure
  14. ground — a position
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. ground — crushed
  17. degree — an amount
  18. degree — temperature
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. ball — a great time
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. capital — a city
  24. cell — in biology

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