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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  6. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. When will it ________________ you to start?
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. pop — soda
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. degree — from a university
  5. suit — clothes
  6. suit — in cards
  7. pop — music
  8. row — a line
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. bat — the animal
  11. degree — temperature
  12. rash — hasty
  13. pop — to visit
  14. rash — a series
  15. march — music
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. band — a ring
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. band — a music group
  21. suit — to fit
  22. row — to paddle
  23. degree — an amount
  24. march — the month

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