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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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. mate — to breed
  3. mate — a friend
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. degree — temperature
  6. mate — a partner
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. face — part of the head
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. fork — in a road
  12. game — a match
  13. degree — an amount
  14. game — wild animals
  15. degree — from a university
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. dip — to sink
  18. face — to point toward
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. band — a ring
  23. face — to confront
  24. dip — a sauce

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