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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. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — a sudden rise
  2. fall — to drop
  3. ball — a great time
  4. degree — from a university
  5. fall — to drop
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. march — music
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. shower — to wash
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. march — the month
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. degree — an amount
  19. ball — a dance
  20. shower — rain
  21. degree — temperature
  22. fall — the season
  23. march — the month
  24. pitcher — a jug

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