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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. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. spring — a coil
  4. degree — temperature
  5. bass — low music
  6. band — a music group
  7. bass — the fish
  8. rest — a break
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. pop — music
  11. degree — an amount
  12. spring — the season
  13. pop — soda
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. bat — the animal
  16. spring — of water
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. pop — to visit
  19. safe — a strongbox
  20. degree — from a university
  21. rest — what's left
  22. band — a ring
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. rest — what's left

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