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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 · land · mine · snap · wave · hide · rock · degree

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. mine — for digging
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. degree — temperature
  6. land — to come down
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. band — a music group
  10. degree — an amount
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. snap — to click
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. degree — from a university
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. rock — a stone
  20. rock — music
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. land — ground
  23. land — a country
  24. hide — to keep secret

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