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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 120 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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. dip — to sink
  3. degree — temperature
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. degree — an amount
  8. season — in sport
  9. season — of the year
  10. band — a ring
  11. march — music
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. march — the month
  16. march — the month
  17. chest — of your body
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. chest — a box
  20. degree — from a university
  21. chest — of your body
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. bat — the animal
  24. band — a music group

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