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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 put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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 rubber band
  3. band — a music group
  4. drill — the tool
  5. season — in sport
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. capital — money
  9. drill — army training
  10. ground — crushed
  11. ground — the earth
  12. drill — a practice
  13. degree — from a university
  14. land — to come down
  15. bank — for money
  16. land — a country
  17. band — a ring
  18. capital — a city
  19. ground — a position
  20. bank — for money
  21. degree — an amount
  22. degree — temperature
  23. bank — of a river
  24. land — ground

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