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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 120 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: racket · present · kid · degree · squash · straw · fan · stand

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. I can't ________________ this cold.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. present — a gift
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. present — the time now
  5. present — there
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. squash — the sport
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. stand — to bear
  10. squash — to crush
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. degree — temperature
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. degree — an amount
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. degree — from a university
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. kid — child
  24. fan — a supporter

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