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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 had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. bore — to tire
  3. row — a line
  4. degree — temperature
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. wound — an injury
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. degree — from a university
  9. swing — in golf
  10. swing — to play on
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. row — to paddle
  16. bore — to drill
  17. degree — an amount
  18. lie — to recline
  19. bat — the animal
  20. scale — in music
  21. scale — size or range
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. swing — music
  24. wound — an injury

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