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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. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. swing — in golf
  3. season — of the year
  4. row — a line
  5. season — in sport
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. degree — from a university
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. cell — in biology
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. degree — temperature
  13. tear — to rip
  14. tear — from crying
  15. cell — a phone
  16. tear — from crying
  17. degree — an amount
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. swing — to play on
  20. scale — in music
  21. row — to paddle
  22. swing — music
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. scale — size or range

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