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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. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. wave — a sudden rise
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. degree — from a university
  4. rash — hasty
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. row — a line
  8. row — to paddle
  9. degree — temperature
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. rash — a series
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. sharp — clever
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. stock — goods
  20. stock — shares
  21. stem — to come from
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. degree — an amount

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