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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'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. land — ground
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. swing — to play on
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. land — to come down
  9. net — in sport
  10. swing — music
  11. club — for golf
  12. band — a ring
  13. mine — for digging
  14. swing — in golf
  15. band — a music group
  16. degree — temperature
  17. net — after costs
  18. net — for catching
  19. toast — bread
  20. land — a country
  21. club — a group
  22. club — for dancing
  23. toast — the most admired
  24. degree — from a university

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