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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 116 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. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. band — a music group
  3. bass — low music
  4. rush — hurry
  5. degree — from a university
  6. band — a ring
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. degree — an amount
  10. bass — the fish
  11. spring — the season
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. rash — hasty
  14. land — ground
  15. spring — of water
  16. prune — to trim
  17. land — a country
  18. spring — a coil
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. degree — temperature
  22. prune — to trim
  23. land — to come down
  24. prune — the fruit

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