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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 · content · cap · season · capital · band · fan · prune

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. prune — to trim
  3. band — a music group
  4. cap — of ice
  5. bass — the fish
  6. capital — money
  7. prune — to trim
  8. content — happy
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. season — in sport
  11. content — the amount
  12. band — a ring
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. cap — a lid
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. capital — a city
  18. season — of the year
  19. cap — a hat
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. bass — low music
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. capital — a big letter

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