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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. degree — from a university
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. degree — an amount
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. degree — temperature
  7. last — final
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. root — of a word
  10. wake — a trail
  11. spell — a short time
  12. object — a thing
  13. content — happy
  14. content — the amount
  15. root — of a plant
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. last — finally
  19. spell — magic
  20. root — the cause
  21. object — an aim
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. last — to go on
  24. spell — letters

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