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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: mark · capital · rush · drill · bank · net · degree · prune

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. prune — to trim
  3. bank — for money
  4. drill — the tool
  5. degree — an amount
  6. prune — to trim
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. degree — temperature
  9. capital — money
  10. net — after costs
  11. drill — a practice
  12. degree — from a university
  13. net — in sport
  14. rush — hurry
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. mark — a trace
  17. bank — of a river
  18. net — for catching
  19. bank — for money
  20. mark — a grade
  21. capital — a city
  22. drill — army training
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. rush — a thrill

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