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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. The ________________ took off on time.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — an aircraft
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. degree — from a university
  4. date — the fruit
  5. bass — low music
  6. degree — an amount
  7. swing — to play on
  8. swing — music
  9. degree — temperature
  10. track — a path
  11. track — a song
  12. track — to keep track
  13. mine — for digging
  14. plane — a tool
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. swing — in golf
  18. game — wild animals
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. bass — the fish
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. game — a match
  24. game — a kind of play

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