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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: kid · last · club · game · date · degree · roll · pitcher

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. last — finally
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. last — to go on
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. date — the fruit
  8. degree — temperature
  9. roll — a list
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. roll — a cake
  12. club — a group
  13. degree — an amount
  14. kid — child
  15. degree — from a university
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. game — wild animals
  18. kid — to tease
  19. club — for dancing
  20. club — for golf
  21. game — a match
  22. last — final
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. pitcher — a jug

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