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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 116 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
468
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: present · swing · hand · squash · lean · wake · cold · degree

  1. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. squash — the sport
  3. cold — not warm
  4. present — a gift
  5. degree — temperature
  6. lean — thin
  7. wake — a trail
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. hand — help
  10. present — the time now
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. cold — an illness
  14. swing — in golf
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. squash — to crush
  17. degree — from a university
  18. present — there
  19. hand — in cards
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. lean — to bend
  22. swing — to play on
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. degree — an amount

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