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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: ball · degree · band · ruler · lash · bark · chest · roll

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. ball — a dance
  3. degree — temperature
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. roll — a cake
  6. band — a music group
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. band — a ring
  12. chest — of your body
  13. bark — to shout
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. roll — a list
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. chest — of your body
  19. ruler — a monarch
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. chest — a box
  22. ball — a great time
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. degree — an amount

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