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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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. wound — an injury
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. band — a ring
  6. degree — from a university
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. wind — moving air
  9. degree — temperature
  10. squash — to crush
  11. rule — a law
  12. rule — government
  13. squash — the sport
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. content — happy
  18. degree — an amount
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. content — the amount
  21. wind — moving air
  22. wound — an injury
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. perch — the fish

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