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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: bore · swing · mine · cold · degree · roll · object · stand

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. stand — to bear
  3. degree — an amount
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. bore — to tire
  6. degree — temperature
  7. bore — to drill
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. swing — music
  11. mine — for digging
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. degree — from a university
  14. swing — in golf
  15. object — a thing
  16. object — an aim
  17. object — to protest
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. cold — an illness
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. swing — to play on
  22. cold — not warm
  23. roll — a list
  24. roll — a cake

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