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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. swing — music
  3. perch — the fish
  4. net — after costs
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. net — in sport
  8. rash — a series
  9. swing — in golf
  10. degree — temperature
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. swing — to play on
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. rash — hasty
  15. net — for catching
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. degree — an amount

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