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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. stand — for spectators
  3. bound — tied together
  4. band — a music group
  5. mine — for digging
  6. chest — of your body
  7. chest — a box
  8. degree — from a university
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. band — a ring
  11. stand — to bear
  12. bound — certain
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. row — a line
  15. tube — a container
  16. chest — of your body
  17. row — to paddle
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. degree — an amount
  20. bound — obliged
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. tube — the underground
  23. degree — temperature
  24. stand — on your feet

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