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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. can — a tin
  5. game — wild animals
  6. degree — from a university
  7. capital — money
  8. can — a tin
  9. pop — music
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. band — a music group
  12. capital — a city
  13. degree — temperature
  14. game — a match
  15. cap — of ice
  16. pop — to visit
  17. band — a ring
  18. cap — a hat
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. pop — soda
  22. cap — a lid
  23. can — to be able to
  24. degree — an amount

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