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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: mate · march · spell · bound · present · degree · band · drill

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. mate — a friend
  3. spell — a short time
  4. drill — a practice
  5. mate — a partner
  6. band — a music group
  7. march — music
  8. degree — from a university
  9. bound — obliged
  10. bound — tied together
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. present — the time now
  13. spell — letters
  14. drill — the tool
  15. march — the month
  16. spell — magic
  17. present — there
  18. degree — an amount
  19. present — a gift
  20. drill — army training
  21. band — a ring
  22. bound — certain
  23. march — the month
  24. mate — to breed

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