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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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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 · row · swing · pit · wound · pass · game · degree

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. row — to paddle
  3. pass — a permit
  4. degree — from a university
  5. pass — to spend time
  6. swing — in golf
  7. chest — a box
  8. chest — of your body
  9. degree — temperature
  10. pit — in a race
  11. row — a line
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. swing — music
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. wound — an injury
  17. degree — an amount
  18. wound — an injury
  19. game — a match
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. pit — a hole
  22. swing — to play on
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. game — wild animals

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