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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. cold — not warm
  3. land — to come down
  4. land — a country
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. club — for golf
  7. degree — from a university
  8. row — a line
  9. deal — to handle
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. bank — of a river
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. land — ground
  15. club — for dancing
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. degree — temperature
  18. row — to paddle
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. degree — an amount
  21. cold — an illness
  22. club — a group
  23. bank — for money
  24. bank — for money

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