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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. march — the month
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. bank — for money
  5. band — a music group
  6. bank — for money
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. kid — to tease
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. degree — temperature
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. march — the month
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. bank — of a river
  17. degree — from a university
  18. kid — child
  19. hand — help
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. band — a ring
  22. degree — an amount
  23. hand — in cards
  24. fan — to cool the air

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