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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 · rule · trunk · wake · swing · pound

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. swing — in golf
  4. pound — a weight
  5. rule — a law
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. degree — from a university
  8. swing — to play on
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. rule — government
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. swing — music
  14. wake — a trail
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. degree — temperature
  18. trunk — of an elephant

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