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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 120 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: band · pound · degree · rest · pass · lie · ground · cell

  1. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. band — a music group
  4. degree — temperature
  5. ground — a position
  6. degree — from a university
  7. band — a ring
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. degree — an amount
  10. pass — a permit
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. cell — a phone
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. lie — to recline
  16. cell — in biology
  17. pound — a weight
  18. rest — what's left
  19. ground — the earth
  20. rest — a break
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. ground — crushed
  24. band — a rubber band

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