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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 120 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: content · spell · object · drill · prune · capital · fine · degree

  1. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. content — happy
  3. spell — magic
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. drill — a practice
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. capital — money
  8. fine — all right
  9. degree — from a university
  10. degree — temperature
  11. object — to protest
  12. object — a thing
  13. drill — the tool
  14. degree — an amount
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. object — an aim
  18. fine — high quality
  19. capital — a city
  20. content — the amount
  21. spell — letters
  22. prune — to trim
  23. spell — a short time
  24. prune — to trim

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