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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. The people resisted their cruel ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. capital — a city
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. net — in sport
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. file — a document
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. degree — an amount
  13. net — after costs
  14. file — a line of people
  15. perch — the fish
  16. degree — temperature
  17. band — a ring
  18. capital — money
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. net — for catching
  21. file — a tool
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. band — a music group
  24. ruler — a monarch

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