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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. prune — to trim
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. rash — a series
  6. degree — temperature
  7. safe — a strongbox
  8. prune — to trim
  9. court — for sport
  10. degree — from a university
  11. court — of a king
  12. safe — out of danger
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. cold — not warm
  15. court — of law
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. face — part of the head
  18. face — to point toward
  19. safe — out of danger
  20. rash — hasty
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. face — to confront

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