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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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. mate — a friend
  4. last — to go on
  5. field — farmland
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. degree — an amount
  9. row — a line
  10. mate — to breed
  11. degree — from a university
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. field — a subject
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. last — finally
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. mate — a partner
  20. field — for sport
  21. degree — temperature
  22. row — to paddle
  23. band — a music group
  24. last — final

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