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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: degree · face · prune · season · tube · nail · spell · band

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. prune — to trim
  3. prune — to trim
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. degree — from a university
  6. spell — letters
  7. degree — an amount
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. face — to point toward
  11. season — of the year
  12. face — to confront
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. spell — a short time
  15. season — in sport
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. band — a ring
  18. spell — magic
  19. degree — temperature
  20. face — part of the head
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. tube — a container
  23. band — a music group
  24. nail — for a hammer

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