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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. cold — an illness
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. degree — an amount
  9. object — to protest
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. sharp — clever
  12. cold — not warm
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. object — an aim
  15. band — a music group
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. rule — government
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. rule — a law
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. object — a thing
  22. degree — temperature
  23. band — a ring
  24. mouse — the animal

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