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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: hand · mug · plane · pop · degree · sharp · row · mate

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Where did you ________________ them?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. pop — soda
  3. hand — help
  4. row — a line
  5. pop — to visit
  6. mate — to breed
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. mate — a friend
  9. hand — in cards
  10. mate — a partner
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. plane — a tool
  13. row — to paddle
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. mug — a cup
  17. pop — music
  18. sharp — clever
  19. degree — from a university
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. mug — a face
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. degree — temperature
  24. mug — to rob

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