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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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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: wind · mine · tube · content · swing · degree · sharp · rest

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. swing — to play on
  3. rest — what's left
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. degree — an amount
  7. mine — for digging
  8. wind — moving air
  9. degree — from a university
  10. content — the amount
  11. rest — a break
  12. swing — music
  13. wind — moving air
  14. rest — what's left
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. content — happy
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. degree — temperature
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. swing — in golf
  22. tube — the underground
  23. tube — a container
  24. sharp — clever

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