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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. scale — size or range
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. degree — temperature
  5. scale — in music
  6. season — of the year
  7. degree — an amount
  8. content — happy
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. degree — from a university
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. season — in sport
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. root — of a word
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. band — a music group
  21. content — the amount
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. root — of a plant
  24. root — the cause

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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