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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. club — for golf
  3. degree — temperature
  4. game — a match
  5. degree — an amount
  6. pop — music
  7. club — a group
  8. pop — soda
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. bass — the fish
  11. cap — of ice
  12. pop — to visit
  13. wake — a trail
  14. cap — a hat
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. game — wild animals
  17. club — for dancing
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. cap — a lid
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. degree — from a university
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. bass — low music

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