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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. degree — an amount
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. spell — letters
  6. prune — to trim
  7. board — a committee
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. degree — from a university
  10. prune — to trim
  11. spell — a short time
  12. chest — of your body
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. chest — of your body
  15. swing — to play on
  16. spell — magic
  17. swing — in golf
  18. chest — a box
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. dip — to sink
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. degree — temperature
  23. board — to get on
  24. board — a flat piece

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