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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 · coach · squash · hand · pass · land · current · kid

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. land — to come down
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. pass — a permit
  7. squash — to crush
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. current — of water
  10. current — happening now
  11. land — a country
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. land — ground
  14. degree — an amount
  15. hand — help
  16. squash — the sport
  17. kid — to tease
  18. hand — in cards
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. current — electric
  22. kid — child
  23. degree — from a university
  24. degree — temperature

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