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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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468
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: rash · degree · tear · swing · march · press · band · capital

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. degree — an amount
  3. tear — from crying
  4. rash — hasty
  5. capital — a city
  6. march — music
  7. press — a publisher
  8. rash — a series
  9. degree — temperature
  10. band — a ring
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. degree — from a university
  13. swing — music
  14. march — the month
  15. capital — money
  16. band — a music group
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. press — to push
  19. swing — in golf
  20. swing — to play on
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. tear — from crying
  23. press — newspapers
  24. march — the month

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