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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. chest — of your body
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. drill — army training
  6. chest — a box
  7. chest — of your body
  8. wound — an injury
  9. can — to be able to
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. degree — an amount
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. drill — the tool
  14. drill — a practice
  15. wound — an injury
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. can — a tin
  19. degree — from a university
  20. mine — for digging
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. bass — the fish
  23. can — a tin
  24. bass — low music

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