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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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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: mate · rest · swing · hand · bass · degree · tear · cap

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. cap — of ice
  3. hand — in cards
  4. hand — help
  5. swing — to play on
  6. degree — from a university
  7. degree — an amount
  8. bass — low music
  9. cap — a hat
  10. mate — a friend
  11. mate — to breed
  12. swing — music
  13. mate — a partner
  14. cap — a lid
  15. rest — what's left
  16. rest — what's left
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. degree — temperature
  19. tear — from crying
  20. swing — in golf
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. tear — to rip
  23. bass — the fish
  24. tear — from crying

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