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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. degree — from a university
  4. band — a music group
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. rest — a break
  7. rule — government
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. sharp — clever
  10. scale — in music
  11. band — a ring
  12. spring — of water
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. rest — what's left
  15. rest — what's left
  16. rule — a law
  17. degree — temperature
  18. wound — an injury
  19. spring — a coil
  20. spring — the season
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. degree — an amount
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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