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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 · cell · club · straw · capital · sharp · drill · bound

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. drill — the tool
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. degree — from a university
  8. capital — a city
  9. degree — temperature
  10. club — for golf
  11. bound — tied together
  12. bound — certain
  13. degree — an amount
  14. capital — money
  15. drill — a practice
  16. bound — obliged
  17. club — for dancing
  18. club — a group
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. sharp — clever
  21. drill — army training
  22. cell — in biology
  23. cell — a phone
  24. straw — dry grass

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