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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. He refilled his coffee ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. object — a thing
  3. fall — to drop
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. object — an aim
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. mug — a face
  8. wake — a trail
  9. spring — the season
  10. degree — from a university
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. fall — to drop
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. lean — thin
  15. lean — to bend
  16. spring — a coil
  17. mug — to rob
  18. degree — temperature
  19. row — a line
  20. object — to protest
  21. row — to paddle
  22. spring — of water
  23. fall — the season
  24. mug — a cup

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