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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: wound · degree · fan · deal · rest · band · ball · file

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. ball — a great time
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. wound — an injury
  5. degree — from a university
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. degree — temperature
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. wound — an injury
  11. file — a document
  12. band — a ring
  13. deal — to handle
  14. ball — a dance
  15. degree — an amount
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. rest — a break
  18. rest — what's left
  19. file — a line of people
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. file — a tool
  22. rest — what's left
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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