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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. bass — low music
  3. band — a music group
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. tear — from crying
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. tear — from crying
  10. band — a ring
  11. degree — temperature
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. vault — a safe
  14. tear — to rip
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. degree — from a university
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. bass — the fish
  20. can — a tin
  21. can — to be able to
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. can — a tin

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