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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 120 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: bay · degree · rash · row · band · field · lie · club

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. club — for dancing
  4. club — for golf
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. bay — to keep at bay
  8. row — a line
  9. club — a group
  10. row — to paddle
  11. field — farmland
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. degree — temperature
  14. band — a ring
  15. bay — a part of the sea
  16. lie — to recline
  17. degree — from a university
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. degree — an amount
  20. field — for sport
  21. rash — a series
  22. field — a subject
  23. band — a music group
  24. rash — on the skin

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