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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: bank · swing · key · wound · trunk · degree · pound · chest

  1. This piece is in a major ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — in music
  2. degree — from a university
  3. bank — for money
  4. swing — to play on
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. wound — an injury
  8. bank — of a river
  9. wound — an injury
  10. key — the most important part
  11. degree — an amount
  12. key — for a lock
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. chest — a box
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. chest — of your body
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. bank — for money
  19. pound — a weight
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. degree — temperature
  22. swing — in golf
  23. swing — music
  24. chest — of your body

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