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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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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: shower · tube · rest · march · degree · band · field · mug

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. march — the month
  3. field — for sport
  4. degree — from a university
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. march — music
  7. degree — temperature
  8. degree — an amount
  9. mug — a cup
  10. band — a ring
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. rest — what's left
  13. mug — a face
  14. rest — a break
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. shower — to wash
  17. field — a subject
  18. field — farmland
  19. march — the month
  20. shower — rain
  21. tube — a container
  22. rest — what's left
  23. mug — to rob
  24. tube — the underground

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