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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. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. swing — music
  3. current — electric
  4. current — happening now
  5. swing — to play on
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. cold — an illness
  8. degree — an amount
  9. stock — goods
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. stock — shares
  13. degree — temperature
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. current — of water
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. cold — not warm
  18. game — wild animals
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. degree — from a university
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. game — a match
  24. stock — a soup base

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