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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: plane · mark · content · prune · degree · wake · swing · lash

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. prune — to trim
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. content — the amount
  8. degree — temperature
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. swing — to play on
  11. degree — an amount
  12. swing — in golf
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. degree — from a university
  15. mark — a trace
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. mark — a grade
  18. prune — to trim
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. wake — a trail
  21. plane — a tool
  22. swing — music
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. 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