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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. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. present — the time now
  9. degree — from a university
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. kid — to tease
  14. degree — temperature
  15. wind — moving air
  16. present — there
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. kid — child
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. foot — a measure
  23. date — the fruit
  24. present — a gift

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