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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. degree — from a university
  3. capital — a city
  4. shower — to wash
  5. charge — electricity
  6. charge — a price
  7. tube — the underground
  8. spell — a short time
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. spell — magic
  11. degree — temperature
  12. bass — the fish
  13. tube — a container
  14. charge — in control
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. shower — rain
  17. band — a music group
  18. spell — letters
  19. band — a ring
  20. capital — money
  21. bass — low music
  22. degree — an amount
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. bass — the instrument

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