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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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. degree — temperature
  4. game — a match
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. degree — an amount
  9. bank — for money
  10. drill — a practice
  11. bat — the animal
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. bank — for money
  15. drill — army training
  16. band — a music group
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. branch — a division
  19. degree — from a university
  20. drill — the tool
  21. deal — to handle
  22. band — a ring
  23. bank — of a river
  24. branch — of a bank

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