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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: band · degree · hand · suit · kid · current · bat · land

  1. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. When will it ________________ you to start?
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — in cards
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. degree — from a university
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. degree — temperature
  7. degree — an amount
  8. hand — help
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. land — to come down
  11. kid — child
  12. land — a country
  13. land — ground
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. band — a music group
  16. bat — the animal
  17. suit — clothes
  18. current — electric
  19. current — happening now
  20. kid — to tease
  21. suit — to fit
  22. current — of water
  23. band — a ring
  24. hand — in cards

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