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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 116 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 put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. degree — an amount
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. net — in sport
  5. degree — from a university
  6. row — a line
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. degree — temperature
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. band — a music group
  11. mate — a friend
  12. sharp — clever
  13. race — the arms race
  14. race — a contest
  15. net — for catching
  16. band — a ring
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. mate — a partner
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. row — to paddle
  21. race — humankind
  22. perch — the fish
  23. mate — to breed
  24. net — after costs

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