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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. When will it ________________ you to start?
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. degree — an amount
  4. chair — a leader
  5. band — a music group
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. clip — for paper
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. wake — a trail
  10. key — for a lock
  11. clip — a video
  12. suit — clothes
  13. clip — to cut
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. tube — the underground
  16. band — a ring
  17. degree — temperature
  18. tube — a container
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. suit — to fit
  21. degree — from a university
  22. key — in music
  23. key — the most important part
  24. suit — in cards

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