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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 ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. degree — an amount
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. swing — music
  6. rest — a break
  7. rest — what's left
  8. degree — from a university
  9. hand — in cards
  10. swing — to play on
  11. drill — army training
  12. cold — an illness
  13. season — of the year
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — not warm
  17. drill — the tool
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. drill — a practice
  20. degree — temperature
  21. hand — help
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. season — in sport
  24. swing — in golf

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