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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: wind · degree · bulb · rest · content · chair · band · march

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. I've got to change the light ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. band — a ring
  3. bulb — for light
  4. degree — an amount
  5. degree — temperature
  6. band — a music group
  7. march — the month
  8. rest — what's left
  9. degree — from a university
  10. content — happy
  11. rest — what's left
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. march — music
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. chair — a leader
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. rest — a break
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. march — the month
  24. bulb — for light

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