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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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. Where did you ________________ them?

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. spell — letters
  4. spell — a short time
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. mug — a face
  10. scale — size or range
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. mug — a cup
  13. mine — for digging
  14. degree — from a university
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. spell — magic
  18. degree — an amount
  19. cap — a hat
  20. scale — in music
  21. cap — a lid
  22. degree — temperature
  23. cap — of ice
  24. mug — to rob

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