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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. capital — money
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. ball — a great time
  5. ball — a dance
  6. content — the amount
  7. rash — a series
  8. degree — an amount
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. last — finally
  12. last — to go on
  13. degree — temperature
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. rash — hasty
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. band — a music group
  19. last — final
  20. content — happy
  21. band — a ring
  22. capital — a city
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. content — videos and posts

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