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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: club · spell · last · degree · band · ball · file · chest

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. band — a ring
  3. degree — from a university
  4. degree — temperature
  5. last — final
  6. club — for dancing
  7. last — finally
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. band — a music group
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. degree — an amount
  12. ball — a great time
  13. ball — a dance
  14. last — to go on
  15. file — a line of people
  16. chest — of your body
  17. file — a tool
  18. spell — a short time
  19. spell — magic
  20. file — a document
  21. chest — a box
  22. spell — letters
  23. club — for golf
  24. chest — of your body

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