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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 120 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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. When will it ________________ you to start?
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. club — for golf
  3. club — a group
  4. suit — in cards
  5. kid — to tease
  6. suit — clothes
  7. club — for dancing
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. bass — the fish
  10. rock — music
  11. cold — not warm
  12. suit — to fit
  13. bass — low music
  14. cold — an illness
  15. rock — a stone
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. degree — from a university
  20. degree — an amount
  21. kid — child
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. lie — to recline

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