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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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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: rest · face · swing · row · chest · wake · degree · wind

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. chest — of your body
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. rest — what's left
  5. swing — music
  6. rest — what's left
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. swing — to play on
  9. face — part of the head
  10. degree — from a university
  11. degree — an amount
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. rest — a break
  14. wind — moving air
  15. degree — temperature
  16. chest — a box
  17. face — to point toward
  18. face — to confront
  19. row — to paddle
  20. chest — of your body
  21. wind — moving air
  22. swing — in golf
  23. wake — a trail
  24. wake — before a funeral

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