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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: spring · band · degree · pass · jam · shower · capital · saw

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Tom got himself in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. jam — in traffic
  3. band — a ring
  4. capital — money
  5. spring — a coil
  6. degree — an amount
  7. shower — to wash
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. saw — the tool
  10. degree — from a university
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. pass — a permit
  13. degree — temperature
  14. jam — to spread on bread
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. shower — rain
  17. spring — of water
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. capital — a city
  21. saw — the tool
  22. spring — the season
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. jam — a tight spot

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