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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: band · march · fine · last · mate · bat · degree · ball

  1. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. degree — temperature
  3. last — finally
  4. bat — the animal
  5. mate — to breed
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. degree — from a university
  8. march — music
  9. mate — a partner
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. band — a music group
  12. band — a ring
  13. ball — a great time
  14. ball — a dance
  15. march — the month
  16. march — the month
  17. fine — high quality
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. last — final
  21. mate — a friend
  22. degree — an amount
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. last — to go on

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