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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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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: mate · degree · bay · tube · band · stick · kid · mine

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  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. mine — belonging to me
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. tube — the underground
  4. kid — child
  5. bay — to keep at bay
  6. mine — for digging
  7. degree — from a university
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. mate — a partner
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. kid — to tease
  12. tube — a container
  13. mate — to breed
  14. mate — a friend
  15. bay — a part of the sea
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. degree — temperature
  18. bay — a horse colour
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. degree — an amount
  22. band — a ring
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  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