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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. bank — for money
  3. degree — from a university
  4. bank — for money
  5. mine — for digging
  6. key — the most important part
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. field — farmland
  9. swing — to play on
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. swing — music
  12. swing — in golf
  13. band — a ring
  14. degree — temperature
  15. rash — a series
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. key — in music
  19. key — for a lock
  20. degree — an amount
  21. field — for sport
  22. band — a music group
  23. bank — of a river
  24. field — a subject

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