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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: lean · fork · face · degree · swing · band · land · pop

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. swing — music
  3. pop — music
  4. face — part of the head
  5. band — a music group
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. swing — to play on
  9. degree — an amount
  10. land — to come down
  11. lean — to bend
  12. band — a ring
  13. lean — thin
  14. face — to point toward
  15. pop — to visit
  16. swing — in golf
  17. pop — soda
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. land — ground
  20. land — a country
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. degree — from a university
  23. fork — in a road
  24. face — to confront

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