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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. club — for dancing
  3. degree — from a university
  4. club — a group
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. degree — temperature
  8. mine — for digging
  9. wound — an injury
  10. rash — hasty
  11. degree — an amount
  12. deal — to handle
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. fork — in a road
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. wound — an injury
  22. rash — a series
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. club — for golf

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