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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: wave · root · degree · capital · last · racket · hand · stock

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. degree — from a university
  3. root — of a word
  4. hand — in cards
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. capital — money
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. degree — temperature
  9. last — to go on
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. stock — goods
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. root — of a plant
  15. stock — shares
  16. degree — an amount
  17. last — finally
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. root — the cause
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. capital — a city
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. last — final

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