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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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. march — the month
  3. mate — a friend
  4. degree — temperature
  5. mate — a partner
  6. degree — an amount
  7. mug — a cup
  8. march — the month
  9. degree — from a university
  10. lean — thin
  11. band — a music group
  12. file — a tool
  13. chip — to eat
  14. chip — for betting
  15. file — a document
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. lean — to bend
  18. mug — to rob
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. file — a line of people
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. mug — a face
  23. mate — to breed
  24. march — music

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