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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 116 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: net · mine · cue · ground · deal · degree · kid · last

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. ground — crushed
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. cue — a signal
  6. mine — for digging
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. ground — the earth
  9. net — after costs
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. net — in sport
  12. kid — child
  13. last — to go on
  14. cue — a hint
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. net — for catching
  17. kid — to tease
  18. last — finally
  19. deal — to handle
  20. cue — for pool
  21. degree — an amount
  22. last — final
  23. degree — temperature
  24. degree — from a university

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