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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. kick — in football
  4. degree — from a university
  5. degree — temperature
  6. net — after costs
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. bound — obliged
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wound — an injury
  11. bound — certain
  12. net — in sport
  13. degree — an amount
  14. net — for catching
  15. bound — tied together
  16. swing — to play on
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. cold — an illness
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. swing — in golf
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. cold — not warm

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