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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. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — with your hand
  2. field — farmland
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. clip — for paper
  5. clip — a video
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. field — a subject
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. degree — an amount
  10. deal — to handle
  11. present — a gift
  12. mark — a trace
  13. clip — to cut
  14. mark — a grade
  15. race — humankind
  16. present — there
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. race — the arms race
  19. degree — from a university
  20. present — the time now
  21. degree — temperature
  22. field — for sport
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. race — a contest

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