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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: pound · fall · degree · wind · fan · band · coach · cell

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. degree — an amount
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. cell — in biology
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. fall — the season
  10. degree — temperature
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. pound — a weight
  14. degree — from a university
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. wind — moving air
  18. fall — to drop
  19. fall — to drop
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. wind — moving air
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. band — a music group
  24. cell — a phone

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