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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. degree — from a university
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. degree — an amount
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. hand — in cards
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. race — the arms race
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. race — a contest
  14. hand — help
  15. degree — temperature
  16. lean — to bend
  17. wake — a trail
  18. race — humankind

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