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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. tube — the underground
  3. scale — size or range
  4. degree — from a university
  5. tube — a container
  6. degree — an amount
  7. last — final
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. scale — in music
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. last — finally
  13. degree — temperature
  14. track — a path
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. sharp — clever
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. track — a song
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. track — to keep track
  21. last — to go on
  22. perch — the fish
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. band — a ring

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