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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 120 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. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. degree — from a university
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. rule — government
  8. swing — to play on
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. swing — in golf
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. cold — an illness
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. wind — moving air
  15. degree — an amount
  16. wind — moving air
  17. object — an aim
  18. rule — a law
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. degree — temperature
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. cold — not warm
  23. object — to protest
  24. swing — music

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