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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. wound — an injury
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. bass — low music
  7. bass — the fish
  8. swing — music
  9. degree — temperature
  10. rash — a series
  11. current — happening now
  12. degree — an amount
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. swing — in golf
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. current — of water
  17. wound — an injury
  18. current — electric
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. degree — from a university
  22. band — a ring
  23. rash — hasty
  24. band — a music group

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