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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. wound — an injury
  3. pop — music
  4. track — a path
  5. shower — rain
  6. track — to keep track
  7. degree — from a university
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. spring — the season
  10. capital — money
  11. track — a song
  12. spring — of water
  13. degree — temperature
  14. shower — to wash
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. spring — a coil
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. degree — an amount
  21. capital — a city
  22. pop — to visit
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. capital — a big letter

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