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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 116 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: craft · fan · stem · degree · squash · band · capital · saw

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. degree — an amount
  5. craft — a skill
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. squash — the sport
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. saw — the tool
  10. degree — temperature
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. stem — to come from
  13. band — a music group
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. squash — to crush
  17. saw — the tool
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. degree — from a university
  20. craft — boats
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. band — a ring
  23. capital — money
  24. fan — to cool the air

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