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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. degree — an amount
  4. march — the month
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. degree — temperature
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. chair — a leader
  10. race — a contest
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. band — a music group
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. degree — from a university
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. march — the month
  19. race — the arms race
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. race — humankind
  23. band — a ring
  24. bat — the animal

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