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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 116 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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Word bank
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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: kid · degree · track · march · swing · plane

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. track — a song
  3. march — music
  4. track — to keep track
  5. kid — child
  6. degree — temperature
  7. march — the month
  8. plane — a tool
  9. degree — an amount
  10. march — the month
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. swing — music
  14. track — a path
  15. degree — from a university
  16. swing — to play on
  17. swing — in golf
  18. plane — an aircraft

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