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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. wave — a sudden rise
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. safe — out of danger
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. chair — a leader
  8. net — in sport
  9. safe — a strongbox
  10. club — for golf
  11. net — after costs
  12. degree — an amount
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. net — for catching
  16. wound — an injury
  17. club — a group
  18. safe — out of danger
  19. pound — a weight
  20. wound — an injury
  21. degree — from a university
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. degree — temperature
  24. pound — to hit hard

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