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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. content — happy
  6. swing — in golf
  7. swing — music
  8. swing — to play on
  9. degree — from a university
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. content — the amount
  12. degree — temperature
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. plane — a tool
  17. mine — for digging
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. wax — to grow
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. straw — dry grass

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