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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: wake · degree · cap · swing · ruler · wound · content · object

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  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. wake — before a funeral
  2. cap — a hat
  3. cap — of ice
  4. object — to protest
  5. content — the amount
  6. object — an aim
  7. swing — in golf
  8. content — happy
  9. wound — an injury
  10. degree — an amount
  11. ruler — a monarch
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. wake — a trail
  15. wound — an injury
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. degree — from a university
  18. swing — to play on
  19. cap — a lid
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. object — a thing
  22. degree — temperature
  23. ruler — for measuring
  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