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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. staff — a stick
  3. degree — an amount
  4. swing — to play on
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. swing — in golf
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. last — to go on
  14. band — a ring
  15. last — finally
  16. swing — music
  17. degree — temperature
  18. mine — for digging
  19. staff — employees
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. band — a music group
  23. last — final
  24. staff — employees

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