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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. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a trace
  2. land — to come down
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. last — finally
  5. land — a country
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. degree — an amount
  9. last — to go on
  10. band — a ring
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. land — ground
  13. present — a gift
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. mark — a grade
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. present — there
  18. last — final
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. degree — from a university
  21. degree — temperature
  22. fork — in a road
  23. band — a music group
  24. present — the time now

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