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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 120 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: degree · firm · bat · capital · game · kick · straw · face

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. game — wild animals
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. capital — money
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. bat — the animal
  8. game — a match
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. degree — temperature
  11. capital — a city
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. firm — a company
  16. firm — decided
  17. kick — in football
  18. firm — steady
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. face — part of the head
  21. face — to confront
  22. face — to point toward
  23. degree — from a university
  24. degree — an amount

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