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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: ball · spring · trunk · swing · degree · tube · cap · pitcher

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. spring — a coil
  4. cap — of ice
  5. spring — of water
  6. ball — a great time
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. swing — music
  9. ball — a dance
  10. swing — in golf
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. cap — a lid
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. tube — a container
  17. degree — temperature
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. tube — the underground
  20. spring — the season
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. cap — a hat
  23. degree — an amount
  24. swing — to play on

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