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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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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. bank — for money
  5. club — for golf
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. bank — for money
  8. perch — the fish
  9. degree — temperature
  10. bank — of a river
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. hand — help
  16. club — for dancing
  17. bass — the fish
  18. bass — low music
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. pound — a weight
  21. hand — in cards
  22. degree — from a university
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. club — a 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