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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: chest · present · degree · ball · capital · race · dip · court

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. ball — a dance
  3. court — for sport
  4. degree — temperature
  5. chest — a box
  6. ball — a great time
  7. court — of a king
  8. degree — an amount
  9. chest — of your body
  10. chest — of your body
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. race — a contest
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. race — the arms race
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. present — the time now
  18. race — humankind
  19. degree — from a university
  20. court — of law
  21. capital — money
  22. present — a gift
  23. dip — to sink
  24. present — there

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