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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. band — a ring
  4. march — music
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. vault — a safe
  7. tube — the underground
  8. march — the month
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. degree — from a university
  11. band — a music group
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. march — the month
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. swing — music
  18. swing — in golf
  19. swing — to play on
  20. lie — to recline
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. degree — temperature
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. tube — a container

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