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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 always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. When will it ________________ you to start?
  11. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. band — a ring
  3. date — the fruit
  4. mark — a grade
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. file — a line of people
  8. mark — a trace
  9. degree — an amount
  10. suit — to fit
  11. suit — in cards
  12. march — the month
  13. file — a document
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. file — a tool
  17. degree — temperature
  18. march — the month
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. march — music
  21. degree — from a university
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. suit — clothes
  24. band — a music group

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