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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. race — the arms race
  4. game — wild animals
  5. degree — from a university
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. wake — a trail
  8. shower — rain
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. clip — a video
  11. race — humankind
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. race — a contest
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. shower — to wash
  17. date — the fruit
  18. game — a match
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. clip — for paper
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. clip — to cut
  24. degree — an amount

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