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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. band — a music group
  5. current — of water
  6. wind — moving air
  7. degree — an amount
  8. wind — moving air
  9. band — a ring
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. current — electric
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. degree — temperature
  14. current — happening now
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. racket — for tennis

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