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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. swing — music
  3. spring — of water
  4. hand — help
  5. swing — to play on
  6. spring — the season
  7. bass — low music
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. wake — a trail
  10. hand — in cards
  11. spring — a coil
  12. row — to paddle
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. degree — temperature
  15. swing — in golf
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. degree — from a university
  19. row — a line
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. bass — the fish
  22. degree — an amount
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. cabinet — ministers

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