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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. key — for a lock
  3. degree — from a university
  4. band — a ring
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. degree — an amount
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. spring — of water
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. pop — soda
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. key — the most important part
  13. spring — a coil
  14. band — a music group
  15. spring — the season
  16. pop — music
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. key — in music
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. degree — temperature
  22. rule — a law
  23. rule — government
  24. rule — to rule out

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