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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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. wind — moving air
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. band — a music group
  9. degree — temperature
  10. pound — a weight
  11. race — a contest
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. bass — the fish
  14. bulb — for light
  15. degree — an amount
  16. degree — from a university
  17. bass — low music
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. race — humankind
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. race — the arms race
  23. bulb — for light
  24. wind — moving air

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