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

Word bank: rest · coach · cell · lash · rock · degree · present · band

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. cell — in biology
  6. band — a ring
  7. rest — what's left
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. degree — from a university
  10. degree — an amount
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. cell — a phone
  13. degree — temperature
  14. band — a music group
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. rest — what's left
  17. present — there
  18. present — the time now
  19. rest — a break
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. present — a gift
  24. rock — a stone

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