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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. degree — an amount
  3. swing — to play on
  4. swing — music
  5. mug — a face
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. field — farmland
  9. field — a subject
  10. swing — in golf
  11. ball — a dance
  12. degree — temperature
  13. prune — to trim
  14. field — for sport
  15. dip — to sink
  16. mug — a cup
  17. mug — to rob
  18. cue — a signal
  19. prune — to trim
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. cue — a hint
  22. degree — from a university
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. cue — for pool

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