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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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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: capital · tear · lean · degree · swing · pit · temple · rush

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. degree — an amount
  3. tear — from crying
  4. capital — a city
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. degree — from a university
  7. capital — money
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. tear — to rip
  10. swing — in golf
  11. tear — from crying
  12. swing — to play on
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. lean — to bend
  15. degree — temperature
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. lean — thin
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. pit — a hole
  21. swing — music
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. pit — in a race

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