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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: lean · hand · degree · rush · trunk · club · tube · kid

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. kid — to tease
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. rush — hurry
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. lean — to bend
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. tube — the underground
  14. club — for dancing
  15. club — a group
  16. degree — an amount
  17. kid — child
  18. tube — a container
  19. hand — help
  20. hand — in cards
  21. lean — thin
  22. degree — temperature
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. club — for golf

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