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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. When will it ________________ you to start?
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. degree — an amount
  3. suit — clothes
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. suit — in cards
  7. race — the arms race
  8. degree — from a university
  9. fall — to drop
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. bat — the animal
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. degree — temperature
  14. suit — to fit
  15. race — a contest
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. cold — not warm
  18. fall — to drop
  19. saw — the tool
  20. saw — the tool
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. cold — an illness
  23. race — humankind
  24. cold — the Cold War

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