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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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. present — the time now
  3. bat — the animal
  4. degree — temperature
  5. present — there
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. degree — from a university
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. saw — the tool
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. chip — for betting
  13. degree — an amount
  14. game — wild animals
  15. band — a ring
  16. present — a gift
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. game — a match
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. chip — to eat
  23. saw — the tool
  24. coach — a trainer

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