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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 120 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: fall · swing · fine · cold · straw · pop · degree · plane

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. plane — a tool
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. cold — not warm
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. swing — music
  9. degree — temperature
  10. pop — soda
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. fall — to drop
  13. swing — to play on
  14. fine — all right
  15. pop — to visit
  16. fall — the season
  17. cold — an illness
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. fine — high quality
  20. swing — in golf
  21. pop — music
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. fall — to drop
  24. degree — an amount

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