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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. club — a group
  3. hand — in cards
  4. degree — from a university
  5. club — for golf
  6. club — for dancing
  7. hand — help
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. mark — a grade
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. mark — a trace
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. degree — temperature
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. rash — hasty
  22. sharp — clever
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. rash — a series

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