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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: degree · band · ball · march · land · ground · shower · fan

  1. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. march — the month
  3. band — a ring
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. march — the month
  6. land — a country
  7. march — music
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. ground — a position
  10. degree — temperature
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. land — ground
  13. ground — the earth
  14. land — to come down
  15. shower — to wash
  16. degree — from a university
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. shower — rain
  19. ground — crushed
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. ball — a great time
  22. degree — an amount
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. band — a music group

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