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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. march — the month
  3. swing — music
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. cell — a phone
  6. land — a country
  7. band — a ring
  8. march — music
  9. band — a music group
  10. degree — from a university
  11. cell — in biology
  12. degree — temperature
  13. land — to come down
  14. ball — a great time
  15. degree — an amount
  16. march — the month
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. bear — the animal
  19. swing — to play on
  20. land — ground
  21. bear — the animal
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. ball — a dance
  24. swing — in golf

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