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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. degree — an amount
  3. hand — help
  4. pound — a weight
  5. squash — the sport
  6. march — the month
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. squash — to crush
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. row — to paddle
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. degree — temperature
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. degree — from a university
  18. row — a line
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. wake — a trail
  22. march — the month
  23. march — music
  24. pound — for dogs

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