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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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  22. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. cue — for pool
  4. last — finally
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. degree — an amount
  7. cue — a signal
  8. degree — from a university
  9. plane — a tool
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. wind — moving air
  12. last — final
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. band — a music group
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. degree — temperature
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. cue — a hint
  20. last — to go on
  21. pass — a permit
  22. pass — to succeed
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. wind — moving air

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