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

  1. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  2. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — with your hand
  2. wave — of the sea
  3. spell — magic
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. file — a tool
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. hand — help
  9. fork — in a road
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. degree — an amount
  12. capital — money
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. capital — a city
  15. degree — from a university
  16. spell — a short time
  17. spell — letters
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. file — a line of people
  20. hand — in cards
  21. degree — temperature
  22. file — a document
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. patient — a sick person

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