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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 116 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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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: stick · rule · fine · mine · charge · degree · cold · swing

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. swing — to play on
  4. cold — an illness
  5. charge — in control
  6. charge — a price
  7. rule — a law
  8. fine — high quality
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. mine — for digging
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. fine — all right
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. swing — in golf
  16. charge — electricity
  17. degree — from a university
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. swing — music
  21. degree — temperature
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. rule — government
  24. cold — not warm

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