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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. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. band — a ring
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. chest — a box
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. chair — a leader
  9. rule — a law
  10. wax — to grow
  11. degree — from a university
  12. chest — of your body
  13. band — a music group
  14. scale — size or range
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. degree — temperature
  17. chest — of your body
  18. rule — government
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. scale — in music
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. degree — an amount
  24. chair — to sit on

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