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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 120 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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. cap — a lid
  3. degree — from a university
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. game — a match
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. game — wild animals
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. bark — to shout
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. cap — of ice
  14. bulb — for light
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. bulb — for light
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. cap — a hat
  20. degree — temperature
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. band — a ring
  23. band — a music group
  24. plane — a tool

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