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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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468
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 · game · pitch · content · wake · degree · safe

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. band — a ring
  3. degree — temperature
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. game — a match
  6. pitch — completely
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. bat — the animal
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. content — the amount
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. degree — an amount
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. safe — a strongbox
  18. degree — from a university
  19. wake — a trail
  20. band — a music group
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. content — happy
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. game — wild animals

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