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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. degree — from a university
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. swing — in golf
  6. pit — a hole
  7. tube — the underground
  8. cold — an illness
  9. degree — an amount
  10. swing — music
  11. tube — a container
  12. cold — not warm
  13. pit — in a race
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. wound — an injury
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. wound — an injury
  20. season — of the year
  21. degree — temperature
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. swing — to play on

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