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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. swing — to play on
  4. saw — the tool
  5. swing — music
  6. face — part of the head
  7. cap — a hat
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. cap — of ice
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. cap — a lid
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. swing — in golf
  14. degree — from a university
  15. degree — temperature
  16. bark — to shout
  17. face — to point toward
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. degree — an amount
  20. face — to confront
  21. band — a ring
  22. wax — to grow
  23. saw — the tool
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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