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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: wake · capital · band · pass · field · key · object · racket

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. band — a ring
  3. object — to protest
  4. capital — money
  5. pass — a permit
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. object — a thing
  9. field — farmland
  10. wake — a trail
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. key — for a lock
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. key — in music
  18. key — the most important part
  19. field — for sport
  20. band — a music group
  21. capital — a city
  22. field — a subject
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. object — an aim

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