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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: rush · straw · swing · arm · coach · wound · degree · pit

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. degree — temperature
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. degree — from a university
  5. swing — music
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. wound — an injury
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. swing — in golf
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. pit — a hole
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. degree — an amount
  20. pit — in a race
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. wound — an injury
  23. swing — to play on
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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