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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. degree — temperature
  3. degree — from a university
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. swing — to play on
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. game — a match
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. swing — in golf
  11. degree — an amount
  12. lean — thin
  13. fork — in a road
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. wake — a trail
  18. bass — the fish
  19. game — wild animals
  20. swing — music
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. lean — to bend
  24. plane — a tool

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