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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. season — in sport
  3. degree — an amount
  4. tear — from crying
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. field — for sport
  7. season — of the year
  8. field — farmland
  9. degree — temperature
  10. tear — from crying
  11. race — a contest
  12. degree — from a university
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. swing — to play on
  15. race — humankind
  16. lean — to bend
  17. race — the arms race
  18. field — a subject
  19. tear — to rip
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. swing — in golf
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. lean — thin

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