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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: swing · sharp · pop · chest · drill · degree · row · object

  1. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. pop — music
  4. swing — in golf
  5. degree — from a university
  6. degree — temperature
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. chest — of your body
  9. drill — a practice
  10. drill — army training
  11. row — to paddle
  12. chest — of your body
  13. pop — to visit
  14. degree — an amount
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. row — a line
  17. object — to protest
  18. sharp — clever
  19. swing — music
  20. swing — to play on
  21. pop — soda
  22. object — a thing
  23. drill — the tool
  24. chest — a box

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