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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  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. field — for sport
  3. object — an aim
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. object — to protest
  6. clip — for paper
  7. field — farmland
  8. field — a subject
  9. degree — temperature
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. march — the month
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. degree — from a university
  14. march — the month
  15. degree — an amount
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. object — a thing
  18. clip — to cut
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. march — music
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. clip — a video
  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