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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. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. staff — a stick
  4. band — a music group
  5. cue — a signal
  6. saw — the tool
  7. saw — the tool
  8. degree — an amount
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. band — a ring
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. cue — for pool
  13. degree — temperature
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. hand — in cards
  16. season — of the year
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. staff — employees
  19. season — in sport
  20. cue — a hint
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. staff — employees
  24. hand — help

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