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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: band · race · patient · cap · degree · season · clip · last

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. clip — for paper
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. cap — a lid
  5. cap — a hat
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. degree — temperature
  8. clip — a video
  9. last — final
  10. race — humankind
  11. degree — from a university
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. race — a contest
  14. degree — an amount
  15. band — a ring
  16. cap — of ice
  17. season — in sport
  18. season — of the year
  19. band — a music group
  20. clip — to cut
  21. race — the arms race
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. last — to go on
  24. last — finally

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