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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 didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. spell — letters
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. rash — a series
  6. plane — a tool
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. rest — a break
  11. degree — from a university
  12. spell — a short time
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. rest — what's left
  17. spell — magic
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. degree — temperature
  20. rash — hasty
  21. degree — an amount
  22. rest — what's left
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. wake — a trail

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