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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: arm · squash · club · rush · mine · degree · tear · roll

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. degree — from a university
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. rush — hurry
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. tear — to rip
  7. club — for golf
  8. squash — the sport
  9. degree — an amount
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. degree — temperature
  12. squash — to crush
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. roll — a cake
  15. tear — from crying
  16. club — for dancing
  17. mine — for digging
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. tear — from crying
  21. roll — a list
  22. club — a group
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. rush — to hurry

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