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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: land · band · cell · ball · staff · row · jam · degree

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. staff — a stick
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. staff — employees
  6. degree — an amount
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. land — a country
  9. row — a line
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. band — a music group
  13. band — a ring
  14. jam — a tight spot
  15. land — to come down
  16. cell — a phone
  17. ball — a dance
  18. staff — employees
  19. row — to paddle
  20. land — ground
  21. ball — a great time
  22. cell — in biology
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. degree — temperature

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