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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. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. wave — a sudden rise
  2. cold — not warm
  3. temple — side of the head
  4. degree — from a university
  5. degree — temperature
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. fall — to drop
  8. land — to come down
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. degree — an amount
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. fall — the season
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. stock — shares
  19. stock — goods
  20. fall — to drop
  21. land — ground
  22. cold — an illness
  23. land — a country
  24. temple — a place of worship

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