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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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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. chest — a box
  3. kid — to tease
  4. scale — in music
  5. scale — size or range
  6. degree — an amount
  7. prune — to trim
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. chest — of your body
  11. club — for golf
  12. safe — out of danger
  13. club — for dancing
  14. kid — child
  15. squash — to crush
  16. degree — temperature
  17. squash — the sport
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. safe — a strongbox
  20. chest — of your body
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. prune — to trim
  23. club — a group
  24. scale — for weighing

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