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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: march · net · degree · club · capital · rock · spell · leaves

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. club — a group
  3. spell — a short time
  4. march — the month
  5. march — the month
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. rock — music
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. net — for catching
  11. capital — a city
  12. spell — letters
  13. capital — money
  14. club — for dancing
  15. rock — a stone
  16. spell — magic
  17. degree — from a university
  18. march — music
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. degree — an amount
  21. net — after costs
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. net — in sport
  24. degree — temperature

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