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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. ball — a great time
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. band — a ring
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. march — music
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. march — the month
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. saw — the tool
  14. saw — the tool
  15. spell — letters
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. degree — an amount
  18. spell — a short time
  19. spell — magic
  20. march — the month
  21. degree — temperature
  22. band — a music group
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. ball — a dance

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