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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — a sudden rise
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. degree — an amount
  4. cell — a phone
  5. ball — a great time
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. stem — to come from
  9. cell — in biology
  10. land — a country
  11. content — the amount
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. cold — an illness
  14. land — ground
  15. content — happy
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. ball — a dance
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. degree — from a university
  20. land — to come down
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. cold — not warm
  23. degree — temperature
  24. ball — a round shape

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