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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 120 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. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to sink
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. wound — an injury
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. band — a ring
  8. bear — the animal
  9. degree — temperature
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. bear — the animal
  13. cap — of ice
  14. capital — a city
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. cap — a hat
  17. cap — a lid
  18. band — a music group
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. degree — from a university
  21. wound — an injury
  22. capital — money
  23. degree — an amount
  24. bear — to put up with

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