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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 124 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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. ground — crushed
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. last — final
  5. current — of water
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. band — a music group
  8. court — of a king
  9. pass — a permit
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. court — for sport
  12. current — electric
  13. ground — the earth
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. court — of law
  16. current — happening now
  17. degree — from a university
  18. last — to go on
  19. ground — a position
  20. degree — an amount
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. degree — temperature
  23. last — finally
  24. pass — to spend time

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