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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 120 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: last · content · chair · swing · degree · club

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. degree — an amount
  3. swing — to play on
  4. club — for golf
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. last — finally
  7. last — final
  8. last — to go on
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. club — a group
  11. chair — a leader
  12. degree — temperature
  13. swing — in golf
  14. club — for dancing
  15. content — the amount
  16. degree — from a university
  17. swing — music
  18. content — happy

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