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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 lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. march — the month
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. degree — from a university
  5. dip — to sink
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. chest — of your body
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. march — music
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. branch — a division
  13. march — the month
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. degree — temperature
  16. degree — an amount
  17. band — a music group
  18. band — a ring
  19. bulb — for light
  20. pass — a permit
  21. chest — of your body
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. bulb — for light
  24. branch — of a tree

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