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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. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — with your hand
  2. bear — the animal
  3. degree — from a university
  4. clip — for paper
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. kick — in football
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. bear — the animal
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. clip — to cut
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. degree — temperature
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. perch — the fish
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. clip — a video
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. bass — the fish
  22. degree — an amount
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. bass — low music

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