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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: ground · bound · pitcher · degree · swing · cell · wind · ruler

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. degree — from a university
  3. ground — a position
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. ruler — a monarch
  6. ground — crushed
  7. wind — moving air
  8. bound — certain
  9. cell — in biology
  10. bound — obliged
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. wind — moving air
  13. ground — the earth
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. swing — to play on
  16. degree — temperature
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. swing — in golf
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. degree — an amount
  22. bound — tied together
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. swing — music

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