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

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  15. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. prune — to trim
  3. land — a country
  4. band — a music group
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. band — a ring
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. bound — obliged
  9. land — ground
  10. degree — an amount
  11. rest — what's left
  12. bound — tied together
  13. rest — a break
  14. jam — to spread on bread
  15. jam — in traffic
  16. chest — of your body
  17. bound — certain
  18. rest — what's left
  19. degree — temperature
  20. jam — a tight spot
  21. chest — of your body
  22. land — to come down
  23. prune — to trim
  24. degree — from a university

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