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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. wave — of the sea
  3. roll — a list
  4. cold — an illness
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. mate — a partner
  7. roll — a cake
  8. degree — from a university
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. race — humankind
  11. branch — a division
  12. club — for golf
  13. mate — to breed
  14. degree — temperature
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. club — for dancing
  17. club — a group
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. mate — a friend
  22. race — a contest
  23. degree — an amount
  24. race — the arms race

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