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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: squash · saw · hand · root · degree · club · object · staff

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. object — a thing
  3. staff — a stick
  4. degree — from a university
  5. hand — help
  6. staff — employees
  7. club — for dancing
  8. staff — employees
  9. squash — to crush
  10. squash — the sport
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. saw — the tool
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. degree — temperature
  15. saw — the tool
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. root — of a word
  18. object — an aim
  19. hand — in cards
  20. club — a group
  21. club — for golf
  22. object — to protest
  23. root — of a plant
  24. root — the cause

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