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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. club — for golf
  4. kid — to tease
  5. plane — a tool
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. club — for dancing
  9. degree — from a university
  10. game — a match
  11. stem — to come from
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. kid — child
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. game — wild animals
  16. degree — temperature
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. perch — the fish
  19. club — a group
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. kick — in football
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. plane — an aircraft

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