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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: lean · band · sharp · ground · object · swing · wind · degree

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. band — a music group
  3. object — a thing
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. degree — an amount
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. ground — crushed
  8. swing — music
  9. band — a ring
  10. wind — moving air
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. degree — from a university
  13. degree — temperature
  14. lean — to bend
  15. sharp — clever
  16. object — to protest
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. object — an aim
  19. lean — thin
  20. swing — to play on
  21. ground — a position
  22. ground — the earth
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. swing — in golf

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