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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: degree · bear · bass · prune · wound · content · shower · swing

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. content — the amount
  3. swing — to play on
  4. shower — to wash
  5. bear — the animal
  6. wound — an injury
  7. shower — rain
  8. swing — music
  9. bear — the animal
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. degree — temperature
  12. bass — the fish
  13. swing — in golf
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. degree — from a university
  19. prune — to trim
  20. degree — an amount
  21. prune — to trim
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. content — happy

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