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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. degree — temperature
  3. degree — an amount
  4. spring — a coil
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. degree — from a university
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. bat — the animal
  10. game — a match
  11. land — ground
  12. land — to come down
  13. rest — a break
  14. spring — the season
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. mouse — for a computer
  17. spring — of water
  18. land — a country
  19. band — a ring
  20. rest — what's left
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. rest — what's left
  24. game — wild animals

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