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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: plane · tear · cabinet · degree · march · cell · field · capital

  1. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. capital — a city
  3. field — farmland
  4. march — the month
  5. degree — temperature
  6. degree — an amount
  7. tear — to rip
  8. field — for sport
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. cell — a phone
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. cell — in biology
  15. march — the month
  16. tear — from crying
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. plane — a tool
  19. tear — from crying
  20. march — music
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. field — a subject
  23. capital — money
  24. degree — from a university

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