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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. kid — to tease
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. kid — child
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. degree — temperature
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. degree — from a university
  11. bass — low music
  12. board — a committee
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. band — a music group
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. craft — boats
  18. degree — an amount
  19. bass — the fish
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. craft — a skill
  22. board — to get on
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. chair — a leader

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