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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 116 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 · mine · stick · mouse · degree · cell · pitcher · content

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. degree — from a university
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. cell — in biology
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. swing — in golf
  10. swing — to play on
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. mine — for digging
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. content — happy
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. degree — temperature
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. swing — music
  22. degree — an amount
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. content — the amount

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