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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: club · degree · last · mine · band · fine · rest · tube

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. degree — from a university
  4. club — for dancing
  5. last — to go on
  6. band — a ring
  7. band — a music group
  8. club — for golf
  9. mine — for digging
  10. degree — temperature
  11. club — a group
  12. rest — what's left
  13. fine — high quality
  14. rest — a break
  15. fine — all right
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. last — final
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. rest — what's left
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. last — finally
  23. tube — the underground
  24. tube — a container

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