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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. swing — to play on
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. degree — from a university
  5. degree — an amount
  6. current — of water
  7. content — happy
  8. cold — not warm
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. current — happening now
  11. present — the time now
  12. rock — a stone
  13. degree — temperature
  14. present — a gift
  15. swing — in golf
  16. current — electric
  17. swing — music
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. present — there
  20. cold — an illness
  21. content — the amount
  22. wound — an injury
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. rock — music

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