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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: club · lean · current · squash · capital · hand · degree · roll

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. club — for golf
  4. current — happening now
  5. club — a group
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. squash — the sport
  8. hand — in cards
  9. degree — an amount
  10. club — for dancing
  11. capital — money
  12. roll — a list
  13. current — of water
  14. hand — help
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. degree — from a university
  17. capital — a city
  18. squash — to crush
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. current — electric
  21. lean — thin
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. degree — temperature
  24. lean — to bend

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