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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: row · drill · cap · patient · last · degree · bass · band

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. last — final
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. last — to go on
  5. degree — temperature
  6. band — a music group
  7. drill — a practice
  8. bass — low music
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. bass — the fish
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. row — to paddle
  14. drill — the tool
  15. degree — an amount
  16. cap — of ice
  17. last — finally
  18. cap — a lid
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. band — a ring
  21. row — a line
  22. drill — army training
  23. degree — from a university
  24. band — a rubber band

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