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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  20. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. degree — from a university
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. degree — temperature
  5. degree — an amount
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. band — a music group
  8. cold — an illness
  9. wake — a trail
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. kick — in football
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. toast — bread
  20. toast — the most admired
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. cold — not warm
  24. coach — a trainer

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