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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. hand — in cards
  3. tear — to rip
  4. tear — from crying
  5. roll — a cake
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. swing — to play on
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. degree — temperature
  10. swing — music
  11. key — in music
  12. degree — from a university
  13. degree — an amount
  14. roll — a list
  15. swing — in golf
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. key — the most important part
  18. hand — help
  19. dip — to sink
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. key — for a lock
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. tear — from crying
  24. roll — on a roll

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