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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: mate · cold · degree · hide · game · bowl · pop · club

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. cold — not warm
  4. pop — soda
  5. pop — music
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. mate — a friend
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. pop — to visit
  10. degree — from a university
  11. mate — a partner
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. degree — temperature
  14. mate — to breed
  15. game — wild animals
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. degree — an amount
  18. cold — an illness
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. club — for dancing
  22. club — for golf
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. game — a match

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