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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. last — to go on
  3. wound — an injury
  4. wound — an injury
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. season — of the year
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. degree — an amount
  9. last — finally
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. season — in sport
  13. last — final
  14. degree — from a university
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. roll — a list
  17. current — happening now
  18. current — electric
  19. degree — temperature
  20. current — of water
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. roll — a cake

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