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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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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: wave · content · kid · degree · mine · swing · tear · wind

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. degree — an amount
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. swing — in golf
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. degree — temperature
  9. kid — child
  10. degree — from a university
  11. swing — music
  12. content — the amount
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. kid — to tease
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. tear — from crying
  19. swing — to play on
  20. tear — from crying
  21. tear — to rip
  22. mine — for digging
  23. content — happy
  24. wind — moving air

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