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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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. dip — to sink
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. staff — employees
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. degree — from a university
  7. pass — a permit
  8. rash — hasty
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. degree — an amount
  11. bat — the animal
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. degree — temperature
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. staff — a stick
  18. kick — in football
  19. band — a music group
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. rash — a series
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. staff — employees

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