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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: wound · pass · lie · swing · last · rock · kick · degree

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. swing — to play on
  3. swing — music
  4. degree — an amount
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. wound — an injury
  10. kick — in football
  11. swing — in golf
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. last — final
  15. last — finally
  16. wound — an injury
  17. degree — temperature
  18. pass — a permit
  19. degree — from a university
  20. rock — a stone
  21. last — to go on
  22. rock — music
  23. lie — to recline
  24. pass — to spend time

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