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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: drill · degree · fine · racket · hand · land · cap · capital

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  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. degree — from a university
  2. degree — an amount
  3. cap — a hat
  4. drill — the tool
  5. cap — of ice
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. cap — a lid
  9. drill — army training
  10. capital — a city
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. capital — money
  13. hand — help
  14. fine — all right
  15. hand — in cards
  16. land — to come down
  17. drill — a practice
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. land — a country
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. fine — high quality
  22. land — ground
  23. hand — part of the body
  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