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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: chest · swing · degree · hand · bulb · rash · pass · bark

  1. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. rash — hasty
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. swing — in golf
  5. degree — from a university
  6. bulb — for light
  7. pass — to spend time
  8. swing — to play on
  9. hand — help
  10. chest — of your body
  11. bulb — for light
  12. degree — temperature
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. swing — music
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. hand — in cards
  17. chest — of your body
  18. bark — to shout
  19. degree — an amount
  20. chest — a box
  21. pass — to succeed
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. pass — a permit

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