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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: present · ground · degree · club · sharp · last · stick · chest

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. stick — to attach or keep to
  3. club — for golf
  4. chest — of your body
  5. degree — temperature
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. club — for dancing
  9. last — finally
  10. chest — of your body
  11. degree — an amount
  12. chest — a box
  13. present — a gift
  14. ground — a position
  15. sharp — clever
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. ground — the earth
  18. last — to go on
  19. present — the time now
  20. degree — from a university
  21. club — a group
  22. present — there
  23. ground — crushed
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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