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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: band · bat · stick · mark · mine · degree · date · content

  1. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  2. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. stick — to attach or keep to
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. band — a ring
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. band — a music group
  10. bat — the animal
  11. degree — an amount
  12. degree — temperature
  13. content — the amount
  14. mark — a trace
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. mine — for digging
  20. degree — from a university
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. mark — a grade
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. content — happy

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