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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: club · chip · shower · fine · degree · bay · hand · cell

  1. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. bay — to keep at bay
  2. chip — to eat
  3. club — a group
  4. degree — an amount
  5. club — for golf
  6. cell — a phone
  7. bay — a part of the sea
  8. club — for dancing
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. shower — rain
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. degree — from a university
  13. cell — in biology
  14. hand — in cards
  15. degree — temperature
  16. shower — to wash
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. fine — high quality
  19. chip — for betting
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. fine — all right
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. hand — help

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