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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: degree · stock · season · hide · wound · swing · plane · bat

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. degree — from a university
  3. bat — the animal
  4. degree — temperature
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. wound — an injury
  9. swing — to play on
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. swing — in golf
  15. swing — music
  16. season — of the year
  17. wound — an injury
  18. plane — a tool
  19. degree — an amount
  20. stock — goods
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. season — in sport
  23. stock — shares
  24. bat — for baseball

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