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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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. pitcher — a jug
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. wake — a trail
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. band — a music group
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. degree — temperature
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. band — a ring
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. lie — to recline
  18. degree — an amount

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