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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.

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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: mark · club · leaves · bowl · swing · hand · spell · degree

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. leaves — of a tree
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. hand — help
  8. club — for dancing
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. spell — letters
  11. spell — magic
  12. mark — a trace
  13. swing — in golf
  14. degree — an amount
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. spell — a short time
  18. hand — in cards
  19. degree — temperature
  20. club — for golf
  21. degree — from a university
  22. swing — to play on
  23. swing — music
  24. mark — a grade

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