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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 124 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 was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. shower — to wash
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. shower — rain
  13. stem — to come from
  14. degree — an amount
  15. degree — temperature
  16. bat — the animal
  17. wind — moving air
  18. ball — a dance
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. degree — from a university
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. wind — moving air
  24. chair — a leader

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