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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: pass · bass · band · spell · wound · fork · tear · degree

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. degree — from a university
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. wound — an injury
  5. band — a ring
  6. degree — temperature
  7. degree — an amount
  8. bass — the fish
  9. pass — a permit
  10. band — a music group
  11. spell — magic
  12. pass — to succeed
  13. spell — letters
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. wound — an injury
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. tear — from crying
  18. spell — a short time
  19. tear — to rip
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. tear — from crying
  23. fork — in a road
  24. pass — to spend time

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