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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.

Words on the sheet
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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 · clip · pop · degree · fine · nail · capital

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. fine — high quality
  3. fine — all right
  4. race — a contest
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. pop — soda
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. clip — to cut
  9. band — a ring
  10. race — the arms race
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. degree — from a university
  13. pop — music
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. pop — to visit
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. band — a music group
  18. clip — for paper
  19. clip — a video
  20. race — humankind
  21. degree — temperature
  22. degree — an amount
  23. band — a rubber band
  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