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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. band — a ring
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. board — to get on
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. degree — temperature
  10. bank — for money
  11. bass — low music
  12. band — a music group
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. board — a committee
  15. bass — the fish
  16. bank — for money
  17. bank — of a river
  18. degree — an amount
  19. cold — an illness
  20. cold — not warm
  21. wax — to grow
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. wind — moving air
  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