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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. band — a ring
  3. degree — from a university
  4. degree — temperature
  5. wound — an injury
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. firm — decided
  9. present — there
  10. tube — a container
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. bat — the animal
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. present — a gift
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. firm — steady
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. wound — an injury
  21. degree — an amount
  22. tube — the underground
  23. present — the time now
  24. firm — a company

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