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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. When will it ________________ you to start?
  24. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. club — for golf
  3. club — a group
  4. degree — an amount
  5. wind — moving air
  6. can — a tin
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. club — for dancing
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. kid — child
  13. kid — to tease
  14. degree — from a university
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. suit — clothes
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. plane — a tool
  19. degree — temperature
  20. hand — in cards
  21. hand — help
  22. can — to be able to
  23. suit — to fit
  24. suit — in cards

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