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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 120 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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. cold — not warm
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. band — a ring
  9. cold — an illness
  10. fine — all right
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. degree — temperature
  13. ground — a position
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. ground — the earth
  18. drill — the tool
  19. drill — a practice
  20. degree — an amount
  21. band — a music group
  22. drill — army training
  23. degree — from a university
  24. ground — crushed

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