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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. roll — a cake
  3. club — for dancing
  4. ground — the earth
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. club — for golf
  8. degree — from a university
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. band — a music group
  11. degree — temperature
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. club — a group
  14. current — happening now
  15. degree — an amount
  16. band — a ring
  17. sharp — clever
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. current — electric
  20. kick — in football
  21. current — of water
  22. roll — a list
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. ground — a position

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