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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: wind · march · mouse · degree · cue · band · bat · cell

  1. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. 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. mouse — for a computer
  2. march — music
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. cell — a phone
  5. cue — for pool
  6. cue — a signal
  7. cell — in biology
  8. march — the month
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. wind — moving air
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. march — the month
  13. wind — moving air
  14. degree — from a university
  15. band — a ring
  16. degree — an amount
  17. cue — a hint
  18. bat — the animal
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. band — a music group
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. 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