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

Word bank: lash · land · degree · club · ground · shower · cabinet · hand

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. club — a group
  6. ground — a position
  7. degree — an amount
  8. land — ground
  9. hand — in cards
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. land — to come down
  12. shower — to wash
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. degree — temperature
  16. shower — rain
  17. ground — the earth
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. hand — help
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. land — a country
  22. ground — crushed
  23. club — for dancing
  24. club — for golf

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