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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: ground · club · swing · face · pop · degree · wave · bass

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. degree — an amount
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. ground — crushed
  5. pop — soda
  6. swing — in golf
  7. club — for dancing
  8. ground — the earth
  9. degree — from a university
  10. face — to confront
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. swing — to play on
  13. bass — the fish
  14. ground — a position
  15. face — part of the head
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. club — a group
  18. face — to point toward
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. degree — temperature
  21. pop — music
  22. pop — to visit
  23. bass — low music
  24. swing — music

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