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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 · field · cell · rule · saw · band

  1. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. field — a subject
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. band — a music group
  5. degree — an amount
  6. cell — a phone
  7. cell — in biology
  8. degree — from a university
  9. rule — government
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. rule — a law
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. saw — the tool
  14. band — a ring
  15. field — farmland
  16. field — for sport
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. degree — temperature

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