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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: leaves · wound · swing · mate · spring · drill · scale · degree

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. mate — a friend
  3. drill — army training
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. spring — the season
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. spring — a coil
  8. swing — to play on
  9. swing — in golf
  10. swing — music
  11. mate — a partner
  12. degree — an amount
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. degree — temperature
  15. scale — size or range
  16. wound — an injury
  17. degree — from a university
  18. drill — the tool
  19. mate — to breed
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. scale — in music
  22. wound — an injury
  23. spring — of water
  24. drill — a practice

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