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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: present · club · straw · cell · degree · ball

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. present — the time now
  3. present — there
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. club — a group
  6. degree — temperature
  7. present — a gift
  8. cell — a phone
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. degree — from a university
  11. club — for dancing
  12. ball — a great time
  13. ball — a dance
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. cell — in biology
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. degree — an amount

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