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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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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 · degree · straw · bowl · pound · bat · kid · saw

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. saw — the tool
  4. degree — from a university
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. degree — temperature
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. pound — a weight
  9. bat — the animal
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. saw — the tool
  12. kid — child
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. degree — an amount
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. kid — to tease
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. band — a music group
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. band — a ring

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