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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. land — a country
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. degree — temperature
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. present — a gift
  10. wind — moving air
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. band — a ring
  13. degree — an amount
  14. degree — from a university
  15. wake — a trail
  16. capital — a city
  17. present — there
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. dip — to sink
  20. land — ground
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. present — the time now
  23. capital — money
  24. land — to come down

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