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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. band — a music group
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. chest — of your body
  6. degree — temperature
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. chest — a box
  10. degree — an amount
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. band — a ring
  14. chest — of your body
  15. wind — moving air
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. bass — the fish
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. wind — moving air
  20. lie — to recline
  21. content — happy
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. content — the amount
  24. bass — low 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