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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: degree · squash · bulb · board · swing · last · bat · tear

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. last — to go on
  3. squash — to crush
  4. last — final
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. tear — to rip
  7. swing — to play on
  8. swing — music
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. degree — from a university
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. bulb — for light
  13. tear — from crying
  14. squash — the sport
  15. bulb — for light
  16. board — to get on
  17. swing — in golf
  18. board — a committee
  19. last — finally
  20. degree — temperature
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. tear — from crying
  23. degree — an amount
  24. bat — in an idiom

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