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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: cold · degree · wave · capital · trunk · bulb · bay · perch

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. My mare is ________________ in color.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. capital — money
  3. degree — from a university
  4. degree — temperature
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. degree — an amount
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. perch — the fish
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. cold — not warm
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. bay — a horse colour
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. capital — a city
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. bulb — for light
  22. bulb — for light
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. perch — for a bird

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