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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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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: bear · degree · cold · bowl · mate · rock · march · swing

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. mate — to breed
  3. swing — in golf
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. mate — a friend
  7. degree — an amount
  8. rock — a stone
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. cold — not warm
  11. mate — a partner
  12. bear — the animal
  13. degree — temperature
  14. march — the month
  15. cold — an illness
  16. degree — from a university
  17. march — the month
  18. march — music
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. bear — the animal
  21. swing — music
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. rock — music

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