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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: swing · degree · kid · bowl · spring · object · file · bore

  1. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. swing — music
  3. degree — from a university
  4. spring — the season
  5. object — an aim
  6. object — to protest
  7. spring — a coil
  8. file — a tool
  9. spring — of water
  10. object — a thing
  11. kid — child
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. degree — temperature
  14. swing — in golf
  15. bore — to drill
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. bore — to tire
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. swing — to play on
  21. kid — to tease
  22. degree — an amount
  23. file — a document
  24. file — a line of people

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