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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.

Make a worksheet

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: mine · kick · band · row · ruler · degree

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. mine — for digging
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. band — a music group
  6. degree — temperature
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. row — to paddle
  9. degree — from a university
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. degree — an amount
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. row — a line
  17. band — a ring
  18. kick — in football

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