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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 120 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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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: pass · capital · court · fan · cell · band · drill · pound

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. band — a music group
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. court — for sport
  7. drill — the tool
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. pound — a weight
  10. court — of a king
  11. pass — a permit
  12. band — a ring
  13. drill — a practice
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. capital — money
  16. cell — in biology
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. drill — army training
  19. cell — a phone
  20. capital — a city
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. pass — to succeed
  24. court — of law

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