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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: squash · march · rush · net · object · degree · ruler · band

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. net — after costs
  3. rush — hurry
  4. net — for catching
  5. object — a thing
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. ruler — a monarch
  8. net — in sport
  9. degree — temperature
  10. march — the month
  11. squash — the sport
  12. band — a ring
  13. march — music
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. object — an aim
  18. degree — from a university
  19. object — to protest
  20. squash — to crush
  21. march — the month
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. band — a music group
  24. ruler — for measuring

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