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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: lean · degree · bowl · cell · swing · ground · row · drill

  1. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. degree — temperature
  5. row — a line
  6. lean — thin
  7. swing — in golf
  8. drill — army training
  9. ground — the earth
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. lean — to bend
  12. degree — an amount
  13. drill — a practice
  14. degree — from a university
  15. cell — in biology
  16. swing — to play on
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. ground — a position
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. row — to paddle
  21. cell — a phone
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. ground — crushed
  24. drill — the tool

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