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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. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. dip — to sink
  3. degree — temperature
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. present — the time now
  6. ball — a dance
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. present — there
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. degree — from a university
  12. clip — to cut
  13. chair — a leader
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. clip — for paper
  16. deal — to handle
  17. band — a music group
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. clip — a video
  22. ball — a great time
  23. degree — an amount
  24. present — a gift

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