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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 120 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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  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. degree — an amount
  2. band — a ring
  3. band — a music group
  4. track — a song
  5. object — an aim
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. degree — temperature
  8. sharp — clever
  9. degree — from a university
  10. squash — to crush
  11. swing — to play on
  12. swing — music
  13. track — a path
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. object — to protest
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. squash — the sport
  19. track — to keep track
  20. object — a thing
  21. perch — the fish
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. sharp — exactly
  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