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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
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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: plane · object · tear · degree · saw · squash · cold · capital

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. degree — an amount
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. tear — from crying
  6. capital — a city
  7. object — a thing
  8. tear — to rip
  9. capital — money
  10. tear — from crying
  11. object — to protest
  12. squash — the sport
  13. degree — temperature
  14. cold — not warm
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. squash — to crush
  17. plane — a tool
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. saw — the tool
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. degree — from a university
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. saw — the tool
  24. object — an aim

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