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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. degree — from a university
  4. squash — the sport
  5. tube — the underground
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. spring — of water
  8. squash — to crush
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. present — a gift
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. degree — temperature
  13. band — a music group
  14. spring — the season
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. spring — a coil
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. degree — an amount
  20. tube — a container
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. band — a ring
  23. present — there
  24. bark — to shout

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