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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. swing — music
  3. degree — from a university
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. firm — decided
  7. wind — moving air
  8. degree — an amount
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. rush — hurry
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. swing — to play on
  14. kid — child
  15. firm — a company
  16. degree — temperature
  17. wind — moving air
  18. fall — to drop
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. fall — the season
  21. firm — steady
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. fall — to drop
  24. swing — in golf

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