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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. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. wave — a sudden rise
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. wind — moving air
  8. field — farmland
  9. clip — to cut
  10. file — a document
  11. clip — a video
  12. chip — for betting
  13. field — for sport
  14. field — a subject
  15. file — a line of people
  16. degree — temperature
  17. file — a tool
  18. clip — for paper
  19. degree — from a university
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. degree — an amount
  22. wind — moving air
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. chip — to eat

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