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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 124 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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. stand — to bear
  3. pit — a hole
  4. bat — the animal
  5. ball — a dance
  6. saw — the tool
  7. rash — a series
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. degree — temperature
  10. saw — the tool
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. rash — hasty
  15. pit — in a race
  16. ball — a great time
  17. degree — an amount
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. degree — from a university
  20. band — a ring
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. ball — a round shape

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