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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. band — a music group
  4. degree — from a university
  5. bound — tied together
  6. spell — letters
  7. bound — certain
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. scale — size or range
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. degree — temperature
  12. branch — a division
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. bound — obliged
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. scale — in music
  18. band — a ring
  19. spell — magic
  20. spell — a short time
  21. rash — hasty
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. rash — a series

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