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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 120 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: pit · degree · spell · swing · bark · content · spring · snap

  1. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — in a race
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. content — happy
  4. degree — temperature
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. spell — a short time
  7. spring — the season
  8. swing — music
  9. degree — an amount
  10. swing — in golf
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. spell — letters
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. swing — to play on
  17. content — the amount
  18. spring — a coil
  19. degree — from a university
  20. pit — a hole
  21. snap — to click
  22. bark — to shout
  23. spell — magic
  24. spring — of water

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