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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. club — a group
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. degree — temperature
  7. hand — help
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. pound — a weight
  13. degree — an amount
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. tube — the underground
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. tube — a container
  18. cold — an illness
  19. hand — in cards
  20. stock — goods
  21. club — for golf
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. degree — from a university
  24. stock — shares

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