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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: rule · rash · march · clip · band · degree · pound · rock

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. rash — hasty
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. march — the month
  5. rule — a law
  6. march — the month
  7. band — a music group
  8. rash — a series
  9. pound — a weight
  10. degree — temperature
  11. clip — a video
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. rock — a stone
  14. rule — government
  15. band — a ring
  16. degree — an amount
  17. clip — to cut
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. clip — for paper
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. rock — music
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. march — music

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