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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 120 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: chest · swing · hide · bay · prune · cold · season · degree

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. prune — to trim
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. cold — an illness
  5. degree — an amount
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. chest — a box
  8. prune — to trim
  9. swing — music
  10. cold — not warm
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. season — of the year
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. degree — from a university
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. swing — in golf
  20. swing — to play on
  21. season — in sport
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. chest — of your body
  24. degree — temperature

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