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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: present · hide · court · club · stick · bound · swing · degree

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. degree — from a university
  3. degree — an amount
  4. present — a gift
  5. bound — obliged
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. swing — to play on
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. club — for dancing
  11. degree — temperature
  12. swing — in golf
  13. club — for golf
  14. present — there
  15. bound — tied together
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. court — of a king
  19. swing — music
  20. court — for sport
  21. bound — certain
  22. present — the time now
  23. court — of law
  24. club — a group

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