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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: degree · land · bound · wake · cue · march · capital · file

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. I'll take my ________________ from you.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. degree — temperature
  3. cue — for pool
  4. march — the month
  5. file — a document
  6. land — a country
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. land — ground
  9. capital — a city
  10. capital — money
  11. march — the month
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. file — a line of people
  14. wake — a trail
  15. bound — certain
  16. land — to come down
  17. bound — tied together
  18. march — music
  19. bound — obliged
  20. cue — a signal
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. degree — an amount
  23. file — a tool
  24. cue — a hint

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