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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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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: ball · wound · fork · mate · degree · racket · stick · swing

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. swing — to play on
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. wound — an injury
  8. degree — an amount
  9. swing — music
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. mate — a friend
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. degree — temperature
  15. mate — to breed
  16. swing — in golf
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. ball — a dance
  19. degree — from a university
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. mate — a partner
  23. wound — an injury
  24. fork — in a road

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