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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: degree · content · rest · last · capital · mate · kid · press

  1. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. mate — to breed
  3. degree — temperature
  4. rest — a break
  5. last — final
  6. content — happy
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. press — newspapers
  9. mate — a friend
  10. press — a publisher
  11. capital — a city
  12. capital — money
  13. rest — what's left
  14. kid — to tease
  15. last — to go on
  16. last — finally
  17. rest — what's left
  18. press — to push
  19. content — the amount
  20. mate — a partner
  21. kid — child
  22. degree — from a university
  23. degree — an amount
  24. capital — a big letter

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