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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: band · club · degree · deal · lean · rush · bat · chair

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. degree — an amount
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. deal — to handle
  6. club — for dancing
  7. club — for golf
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. lean — to bend
  12. rush — hurry
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. degree — temperature
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. club — a group
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. degree — from a university
  19. lean — thin
  20. band — a ring
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bat — the animal
  24. band — a music group

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