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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. scale — size or range
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. current — happening now
  6. current — electric
  7. drill — a practice
  8. drill — army training
  9. band — a ring
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. band — a music group
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. drill — the tool
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. degree — an amount
  17. content — happy
  18. scale — in music
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. degree — temperature
  22. current — of water
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. content — the amount

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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