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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: band · snap · mine · mark · toast · degree · land · bear

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. band — a music group
  3. toast — bread
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. mine — for digging
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. toast — a drink to someone
  8. mark — a trace
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. degree — an amount
  12. degree — from a university
  13. toast — the most admired
  14. land — ground
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. degree — temperature
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. mark — a grade
  20. land — a country
  21. bear — the animal
  22. land — to come down
  23. bear — the animal
  24. snap — to click

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