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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. band — a music group
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. saw — the tool
  5. band — a ring
  6. craft — a skill
  7. game — wild animals
  8. degree — from a university
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. degree — an amount
  12. bat — the animal
  13. saw — the tool
  14. degree — temperature
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. craft — boats
  19. stand — to bear
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. game — a match
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. wind — moving air
  24. band — a rubber band

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