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

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. degree — temperature
  4. content — happy
  5. club — for dancing
  6. chest — a box
  7. swing — music
  8. swing — to play on
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. degree — from a university
  11. row — to paddle
  12. content — the amount
  13. capital — a city
  14. club — for golf
  15. degree — an amount
  16. chest — of your body
  17. swing — in golf
  18. chest — of your body
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. capital — money
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. row — a line
  24. content — videos and posts

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