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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. rash — hasty
  4. cold — an illness
  5. court — of law
  6. degree — from a university
  7. cold — not warm
  8. face — to point toward
  9. court — of a king
  10. face — to confront
  11. degree — an amount
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. cell — a phone
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. rash — a series
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. face — part of the head
  23. court — for sport
  24. cell — in biology

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