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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 116 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: firm · current · hand · mine · pop · nail · game · degree

  1. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  5. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. game — a match
  3. degree — from a university
  4. firm — decided
  5. firm — steady
  6. pop — soda
  7. pop — to visit
  8. degree — temperature
  9. current — of water
  10. hand — in cards
  11. current — happening now
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. pop — music
  16. current — electric
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. mine — for digging
  19. firm — a company
  20. degree — an amount
  21. game — wild animals
  22. hand — help
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. nail — for a hammer

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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