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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: club · bank · rule · prune · squash · shower · ball · degree

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. club — a group
  3. ball — a dance
  4. rule — a law
  5. degree — from a university
  6. bank — for money
  7. ball — a great time
  8. squash — the sport
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. club — for dancing
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. shower — to wash
  13. bank — for money
  14. squash — to crush
  15. shower — rain
  16. degree — temperature
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. degree — an amount
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. prune — to trim
  21. bank — of a river
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. prune — to trim
  24. rule — government

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