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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: pitcher · scale · spring · kid · degree · net · swing · wake

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. swing — music
  3. spring — of water
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. spring — the season
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. net — for catching
  8. swing — in golf
  9. scale — in music
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. net — in sport
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. scale — size or range
  16. wake — a trail
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. net — after costs
  19. spring — a coil
  20. kid — child
  21. degree — an amount
  22. degree — from a university
  23. degree — temperature
  24. swing — to play on

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