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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 120 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.

Make a worksheet

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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. present — there
  3. degree — an amount
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. present — the time now
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. hand — in cards
  10. degree — from a university
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. file — a line of people
  15. degree — temperature
  16. present — a gift
  17. file — a tool
  18. file — a document

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