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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 · chair · band · spell · charge · lie · swing · cold

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. band — a music group
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. spell — a short time
  7. degree — temperature
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. chair — a leader
  10. band — a ring
  11. spell — letters
  12. charge — a price
  13. cold — an illness
  14. spell — magic
  15. charge — electricity
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. swing — to play on
  19. lie — to recline
  20. degree — an amount
  21. charge — in control
  22. swing — music
  23. cold — not warm
  24. swing — in golf

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