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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: swing · land · mark · season · capital · degree · date · straw

  1. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. capital — money
  3. season — of the year
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. land — to come down
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. land — a country
  9. mark — a trace
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. mark — a grade
  12. degree — an amount
  13. degree — from a university
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. swing — to play on
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. land — ground
  19. capital — a city
  20. season — in sport
  21. swing — music
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. degree — temperature
  24. swing — in golf

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