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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 116 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 put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. degree — from a university
  3. band — a music group
  4. degree — temperature
  5. bear — the animal
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. stem — to come from
  10. degree — an amount
  11. pop — music
  12. pop — to visit
  13. band — a ring
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. bear — the animal
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. pop — soda
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. game — wild animals
  20. pass — a permit
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. game — a match
  24. trunk — of a car

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