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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 116 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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. band — a ring
  3. band — a music group
  4. drill — the tool
  5. craft — a skill
  6. capital — a city
  7. game — wild animals
  8. capital — money
  9. degree — from a university
  10. drill — a practice
  11. degree — temperature
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. season — in sport
  14. rule — a law
  15. drill — army training
  16. rule — government
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. craft — boats
  21. degree — an amount
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. game — a match

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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