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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 116 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: lean · game · degree · band · land · rash · cap · pit

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. rash — a series
  3. land — ground
  4. game — wild animals
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. land — a country
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. lean — thin
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. cap — of ice
  11. rash — hasty
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. degree — an amount
  14. pit — in a race
  15. lean — to bend
  16. cap — a hat
  17. cap — a lid
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. game — a match
  20. degree — temperature
  21. pit — a hole
  22. land — to come down
  23. band — a music group
  24. degree — from a university

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