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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. degree — an amount
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. shower — to wash
  5. race — a contest
  6. stem — to come from
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. degree — temperature
  11. race — humankind
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. bat — the animal
  14. shower — rain
  15. squash — the sport
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. squash — to crush
  18. degree — from a university
  19. race — the arms race
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. bat — for baseball

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