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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. swing — to play on
  3. swing — in golf
  4. lean — to bend
  5. degree — an amount
  6. swing — music
  7. lean — thin
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. march — the month
  12. bark — to shout
  13. degree — temperature
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. fork — in a road
  17. squash — the sport
  18. march — music
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. squash — to crush
  21. march — the month
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. game — wild animals
  24. game — a match

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