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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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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: rash · swing · club · cabinet · wake · march · degree · arm

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. march — the month
  6. march — music
  7. club — for dancing
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. swing — in golf
  10. club — for golf
  11. rash — hasty
  12. degree — temperature
  13. wake — a trail
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. swing — music
  17. degree — an amount
  18. degree — from a university
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. rash — a series
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. march — the month
  23. swing — to play on
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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