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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: degree · date · fan · kick · fall · bore · swing · spring

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. kick — in football
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. bore — to tire
  7. swing — music
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. spring — a coil
  10. degree — an amount
  11. bore — to drill
  12. degree — from a university
  13. date — the fruit
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. spring — the season
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. fall — to drop
  19. spring — of water
  20. degree — temperature
  21. fall — to drop
  22. swing — in golf
  23. fall — the season
  24. fan — a supporter

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