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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 116 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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. club — for golf
  3. swing — music
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. degree — an amount
  7. fall — the season
  8. bass — the fish
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. bass — low music
  11. swing — to play on
  12. club — for dancing
  13. tear — from crying
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. fall — to drop
  16. club — a group
  17. tear — to rip
  18. tear — from crying
  19. lie — to recline
  20. fall — to drop
  21. degree — temperature
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. swing — in golf
  24. stem — to come from

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