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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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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 · firm · fall · pop · cell · capital · degree · race

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. fall — the season
  3. fall — to drop
  4. degree — from a university
  5. firm — a company
  6. firm — steady
  7. capital — money
  8. cell — in biology
  9. degree — temperature
  10. race — the arms race
  11. pop — music
  12. degree — an amount
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. cell — a phone
  15. band — a music group
  16. race — humankind
  17. capital — a city
  18. pop — to visit
  19. pop — soda
  20. race — a contest
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. band — a ring
  23. firm — decided
  24. fall — to drop

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