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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. degree — temperature
  3. scale — in music
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. rush — hurry
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. mine — for digging
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. wound — an injury
  15. degree — an amount
  16. scale — size or range
  17. wound — an injury
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. band — a music group
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. fork — in a road
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. degree — from a university

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