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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: degree · bat · ball · hand · bore · tube · chair · net

  1. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. chair — a leader
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. ball — a great time
  8. net — after costs
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. net — for catching
  12. hand — in cards
  13. tube — a container
  14. tube — the underground
  15. net — in sport
  16. hand — help
  17. degree — from a university
  18. degree — an amount
  19. bore — to tire
  20. degree — temperature
  21. bore — to drill
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. bat — the animal
  24. ball — a dance

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