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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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. 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. bass — the instrument
  2. degree — temperature
  3. last — final
  4. field — a subject
  5. toast — the most admired
  6. field — for sport
  7. wound — an injury
  8. march — the month
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. band — a music group
  11. degree — from a university
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. march — the month
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. field — farmland
  16. band — a ring
  17. last — finally
  18. march — music
  19. last — to go on
  20. wound — an injury
  21. toast — bread
  22. bass — the fish
  23. bass — low music
  24. 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