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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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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: game · swing · rush · band · cold · leaves · degree · fine

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. fine — high quality
  3. rush — hurry
  4. band — a music group
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. swing — music
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. cold — not warm
  10. game — a match
  11. degree — from a university
  12. swing — in golf
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. game — wild animals
  16. fine — all right
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. cold — an illness
  20. swing — to play on
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. degree — an amount
  23. degree — temperature
  24. band — a ring

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