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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: date · march · roll · wake · degree · bear · band · tube

  1. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. degree — from a university
  3. degree — an amount
  4. wake — a trail
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. tube — a container
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. band — a ring
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. date — the fruit
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. roll — a list
  15. bear — the animal
  16. tube — the underground
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. roll — a cake
  19. march — the month
  20. band — a music group
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. march — music
  23. degree — temperature
  24. march — the month

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