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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. swing — in golf
  3. jam — a tight spot
  4. swing — music
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. cold — not warm
  8. degree — an amount
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. swing — to play on
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. key — the most important part
  13. key — in music
  14. kick — in football
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. shower — rain
  18. cold — an illness
  19. shower — to wash
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. jam — to spread on bread
  23. degree — from a university
  24. degree — temperature

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