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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: season · fan · march · cue · capital · jam · bore · degree

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. degree — from a university
  4. season — in sport
  5. march — music
  6. cue — a signal
  7. bore — to tire
  8. bore — to drill
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. jam — a tight spot
  12. march — the month
  13. cue — a hint
  14. season — of the year
  15. degree — temperature
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. capital — a city
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. capital — money
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. march — the month
  24. cue — for pool

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