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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: capital · ruler · patient · wind · degree · pass · band · stock

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  8. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. band — a music group
  3. capital — money
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. degree — from a university
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. ruler — a monarch
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. band — a ring
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. degree — temperature
  16. wind — moving air
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. capital — a city
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. wind — moving air
  21. pass — a permit
  22. stock — goods
  23. stock — shares
  24. degree — an amount

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