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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: pitcher · pound · degree · scale · drill · bulb · fan · capital

  1. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. degree — an amount
  3. drill — army training
  4. capital — a city
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. pound — a weight
  8. scale — in music
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. bulb — for light
  11. degree — from a university
  12. drill — the tool
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. scale — size or range
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. capital — money
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. bulb — for light
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. degree — temperature
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. drill — a practice

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