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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: pop · degree · capital · board · drill · spell · shower · press

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. spell — magic
  3. degree — temperature
  4. pop — music
  5. shower — to wash
  6. spell — letters
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. drill — the tool
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. drill — a practice
  11. drill — army training
  12. press — to push
  13. press — a publisher
  14. pop — soda
  15. degree — an amount
  16. board — to get on
  17. board — a committee
  18. spell — a short time
  19. press — newspapers
  20. pop — to visit
  21. capital — a city
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. shower — rain
  24. capital — money

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