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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: degree · bat · cabinet · march · rest · rule

  1. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. degree — an amount
  3. march — the month
  4. rest — what's left
  5. march — the month
  6. rest — a break
  7. bat — the animal
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. march — music
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. degree — from a university
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. rule — government
  14. rest — what's left
  15. degree — temperature
  16. rule — a law
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. bat — in an idiom

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