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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. ________________ you help me carry this box?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. degree — an amount
  3. degree — temperature
  4. degree — from a university
  5. band — a ring
  6. bulb — for light
  7. mate — to breed
  8. can — a tin
  9. content — the amount
  10. mate — a friend
  11. can — a tin
  12. cold — not warm
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. mate — a partner
  18. bulb — for light
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. pitch — completely
  21. cold — an illness
  22. content — happy
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. can — to be able to

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