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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: wound · squash · degree · deal · sharp · roll · toast · current

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  20. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. squash — the sport
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. deal — to handle
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. wound — an injury
  8. toast — the most admired
  9. roll — a list
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. degree — from a university
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. degree — temperature
  14. current — of water
  15. current — electric
  16. current — happening now
  17. roll — a cake
  18. sharp — clever
  19. toast — bread
  20. toast — a drink to someone
  21. squash — to crush
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. sharp — exactly

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