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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: row · drill · swing · degree · ruler · stock · snap · bat

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. degree — from a university
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. degree — temperature
  5. swing — to play on
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. row — a line
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. ruler — a monarch
  10. swing — in golf
  11. stock — goods
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. drill — army training
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. row — to paddle
  17. bat — the animal
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. drill — a practice
  20. stock — shares
  21. degree — an amount
  22. swing — music
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. drill — the tool

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