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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 black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. degree — an amount
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. degree — from a university
  6. band — a ring
  7. spell — a short time
  8. rule — a law
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. band — a music group
  14. bear — the animal
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. rule — government
  19. spell — letters
  20. degree — temperature
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. fork — in a road
  24. spell — magic

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