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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: coach · racket · land · band · last · rash · mine · degree

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. band — a music group
  3. degree — an amount
  4. mine — for digging
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. land — to come down
  8. rash — a series
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. rash — hasty
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. last — final
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. degree — temperature
  16. land — ground
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. degree — from a university
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. last — to go on
  21. band — a ring
  22. last — finally
  23. land — a country
  24. rash — on the skin

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