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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 · mouse · hand · last · bass · degree · staff · foot

  1. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. bass — low music
  4. last — final
  5. degree — an amount
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. degree — from a university
  8. last — finally
  9. hand — in cards
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. bass — the fish
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. foot — a measure
  14. staff — a stick
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. swing — in golf
  17. last — to go on
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. degree — temperature
  20. swing — music
  21. swing — to play on
  22. staff — employees
  23. hand — help
  24. bass — the instrument

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