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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: last · ball · club · net · shower · bound · scale · degree

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. ball — a great time
  3. last — finally
  4. ball — a dance
  5. shower — to wash
  6. degree — from a university
  7. net — after costs
  8. bound — tied together
  9. degree — temperature
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. net — in sport
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. bound — certain
  14. scale — size or range
  15. degree — an amount
  16. bound — obliged
  17. last — final
  18. net — for catching
  19. club — a group
  20. last — to go on
  21. shower — rain
  22. club — for dancing
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. scale — in music

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