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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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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: band · current · degree · cell · present · bat

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. present — a gift
  3. band — a ring
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. degree — temperature
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. present — the time now
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. cell — a phone
  10. cell — in biology
  11. degree — from a university
  12. bat — the animal
  13. current — happening now
  14. band — a music group
  15. current — of water
  16. current — electric
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. present — there

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