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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: tear · hand · racket · staff · deal · degree

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. deal — to handle
  3. hand — in cards
  4. staff — employees
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. tear — to rip
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. tear — from crying
  10. staff — employees
  11. staff — a stick
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. hand — help
  14. degree — from a university
  15. tear — from crying
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. degree — temperature

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