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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: band · hand · degree · pop · cue · row · game · deal

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. deal — to handle
  3. cue — a signal
  4. pop — music
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. pop — to visit
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. band — a music group
  9. row — a line
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. cue — for pool
  13. hand — in cards
  14. game — wild animals
  15. row — to paddle
  16. hand — help
  17. degree — temperature
  18. cue — a hint
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. pop — soda
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. game — a match
  23. degree — an amount
  24. band — a ring

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