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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: capital · bear · degree · wake · present · fine · straw · lean

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. wake — a trail
  3. fine — high quality
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. fine — all right
  7. degree — an amount
  8. capital — money
  9. degree — temperature
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. lean — thin
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. bear — the animal
  16. present — a gift
  17. present — the time now
  18. lean — to bend
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. present — there
  22. capital — a city
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. bear — the animal

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