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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. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. band — a music group
  5. march — the month
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. court — of law
  10. degree — temperature
  11. band — a ring
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. court — for sport
  14. degree — an amount
  15. court — of a king
  16. fine — all right
  17. fine — high quality
  18. degree — from a university
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. march — the month
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — not warm
  24. march — music

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