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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. degree — from a university
  3. swing — to play on
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. spell — a short time
  7. chest — of your body
  8. swing — in golf
  9. chest — a box
  10. swing — music
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. chest — of your body
  15. spell — magic
  16. degree — an amount
  17. degree — temperature
  18. chip — to eat
  19. last — to go on
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. spell — letters
  22. chip — for betting
  23. last — final
  24. leaves — of a tree

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