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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: club · cabinet · row · pit · leaves · degree · bat · band

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. degree — temperature
  4. bat — the animal
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. band — a music group
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. pit — in a race
  13. row — a line
  14. degree — from a university
  15. club — for golf
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. row — to paddle
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. band — a ring
  20. pit — a hole
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. club — a group
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. degree — an amount

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