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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: leaves · nail · degree · date · kid · cold · club · saw

  1. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. saw — the tool
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. degree — from a university
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. saw — the tool
  9. club — a group
  10. club — for golf
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. kid — to tease
  14. date — the fruit
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. cold — an illness
  17. club — for dancing
  18. cold — not warm
  19. degree — temperature
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. kid — child
  23. degree — an amount
  24. leaves — to go away

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