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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: kid · capital · mine · board · ball · degree · lash · stem

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. lash — an eyelash
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. kid — child
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. board — to get on
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. degree — temperature
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. capital — a city
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. kid — to tease
  16. board — a committee
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. stem — to come from
  19. degree — an amount
  20. ball — a dance
  21. mine — for digging
  22. ball — a great time
  23. capital — money
  24. mine — an explosive

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