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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. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  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. wave — with your hand
  2. degree — temperature
  3. saw — the tool
  4. file — a tool
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. file — a line of people
  7. field — a subject
  8. file — a document
  9. field — for sport
  10. date — the fruit
  11. field — farmland
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. degree — an amount
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cold — not warm
  16. mug — a cup
  17. mug — to rob
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. saw — the tool
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. mug — a face
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  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