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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. I'll take my ________________ from you.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. band — a ring
  3. pound — a weight
  4. cue — for pool
  5. squash — to crush
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. shower — to wash
  9. band — a music group
  10. row — a line
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. cue — a signal
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. row — to paddle
  17. squash — the sport
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. degree — temperature
  20. degree — from a university
  21. shower — rain
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. cue — a hint

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