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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. wound — an injury
  6. saw — the tool
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. rush — hurry
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. pound — a weight
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. current — happening now
  13. degree — temperature
  14. march — the month
  15. saw — the tool
  16. current — electric
  17. wound — an injury
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. march — the month
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. current — of water
  23. march — music
  24. degree — from a university

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