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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: degree · mate · rule · swing · rest · chest

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. swing — to play on
  3. rule — a law
  4. swing — in golf
  5. degree — from a university
  6. degree — an amount
  7. rest — what's left
  8. chest — of your body
  9. chest — of your body
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. rest — a break
  12. mate — a friend
  13. swing — music
  14. mate — to breed
  15. chest — a box
  16. rest — what's left
  17. degree — temperature
  18. mate — a partner

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