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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 · can · capital · content · ground · degree · stock · spring

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. spring — of water
  3. can — a tin
  4. stock — goods
  5. can — a tin
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. ground — the earth
  8. degree — from a university
  9. band — a ring
  10. can — to be able to
  11. degree — temperature
  12. spring — the season
  13. ground — crushed
  14. content — the amount
  15. capital — money
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. stock — shares
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. content — happy
  20. band — a music group
  21. spring — a coil
  22. degree — an amount
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. capital — a city

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