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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 the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. track — to keep track
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. track — a song
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. fall — to drop
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. row — a line
  12. track — a path
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. sharp — clever
  16. fall — to drop
  17. degree — from a university
  18. degree — an amount
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. deal — to handle
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. degree — temperature
  24. row — to paddle

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