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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: kid · ball · staff · squash · degree · rule · last · nail

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. degree — from a university
  4. last — to go on
  5. squash — to crush
  6. ball — a great time
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. squash — the sport
  9. staff — employees
  10. kid — child
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. rule — a law
  14. staff — a stick
  15. rule — government
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. last — finally
  18. ball — a dance
  19. staff — employees
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. kid — to tease
  22. degree — an amount
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. degree — temperature

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