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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. cell — in biology
  3. rest — a break
  4. wind — moving air
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. rest — what's left
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. pop — music
  10. cell — a phone
  11. degree — from a university
  12. pop — soda
  13. band — a music group
  14. band — a ring
  15. degree — an amount
  16. wind — moving air
  17. rest — what's left
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. degree — temperature
  20. branch — a division
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. shower — rain
  23. shower — to wash
  24. cell — in a prison

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