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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: ground · degree · hand · pitcher · swing · lash · object · wave

  1. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. ground — the earth
  4. object — to protest
  5. ground — a position
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. hand — help
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. degree — temperature
  12. hand — in cards
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. degree — from a university
  15. object — a thing
  16. degree — an amount
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. ground — crushed
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. object — an aim
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. swing — in golf
  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