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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 120 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. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  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. current — electric
  2. degree — an amount
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. chest — of your body
  5. mark — a trace
  6. march — music
  7. degree — from a university
  8. dip — to sink
  9. mark — a grade
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. swing — music
  12. chest — a box
  13. chest — of your body
  14. current — of water
  15. mine — for digging
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. march — the month
  18. degree — temperature
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. current — happening now
  21. march — the month
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. swing — to play on
  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