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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: swing · pit · board · hand · press · land · degree · ball

  1. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  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. pit — a hole
  2. swing — in golf
  3. degree — from a university
  4. degree — temperature
  5. press — newspapers
  6. pit — in a race
  7. swing — to play on
  8. board — to get on
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. ball — a great time
  11. land — ground
  12. board — a committee
  13. press — a publisher
  14. ball — a dance
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. hand — help
  17. hand — in cards
  18. land — a country
  19. press — to push
  20. degree — an amount
  21. land — to come down
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. hand — part of the body
  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