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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. cell — in biology
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. band — a music group
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. degree — temperature
  9. present — there
  10. roll — a cake
  11. present — a gift
  12. degree — an amount
  13. clip — a video
  14. lean — thin
  15. roll — a list
  16. present — the time now
  17. lean — to bend
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. band — a ring
  20. clip — to cut
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. cell — a phone
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. clip — for paper

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