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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: ball · capital · degree · land · tear · present · snap · plane

  1. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. land — to come down
  5. present — a gift
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. snap — to click
  8. land — ground
  9. degree — an amount
  10. ball — a dance
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. present — the time now
  13. degree — from a university
  14. tear — from crying
  15. land — a country
  16. degree — temperature
  17. capital — money
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. ball — a great time
  21. tear — from crying
  22. capital — a city
  23. plane — a tool
  24. tear — to rip

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