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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: capital · pop · mug · drill · ground · bear · last · degree

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. ground — the earth
  3. degree — an amount
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. bear — the animal
  6. capital — a city
  7. mug — a cup
  8. capital — money
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. mug — a face
  11. bear — the animal
  12. pop — soda
  13. degree — temperature
  14. ground — crushed
  15. drill — army training
  16. degree — from a university
  17. mug — to rob
  18. last — finally
  19. drill — the tool
  20. drill — a practice
  21. pop — to visit
  22. last — to go on
  23. ground — a position
  24. pop — music

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