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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

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

Word bank: bass · capital · band · last · patient · land · scale · rock

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. capital — money
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. land — ground
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. band — a music group
  8. last — finally
  9. last — to go on
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. rock — a stone
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. bass — the fish
  14. capital — a city
  15. scale — size or range
  16. band — a ring
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. scale — in music
  19. rock — music
  20. bass — low music
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. land — to come down
  24. land — a country

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