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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 116 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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. degree — an amount
  3. swing — to play on
  4. bound — certain
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. swing — music
  8. bound — obliged
  9. mine — for digging
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. capital — money
  13. bound — tied together
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. degree — from a university
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. swing — in golf
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. degree — temperature
  24. capital — a city

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