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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: kid · tear · drill · rule · club · stick · scale · degree

  1. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. degree — an amount
  3. kid — child
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. drill — a practice
  6. club — a group
  7. club — for golf
  8. degree — temperature
  9. kid — to tease
  10. rule — government
  11. tear — to rip
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. scale — in music
  15. drill — army training
  16. scale — size or range
  17. drill — the tool
  18. rule — a law
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. club — for dancing
  21. degree — from a university
  22. tear — from crying
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. tear — from crying

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