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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  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. chair — a professorship
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. degree — an amount
  6. hand — help
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. file — a document
  9. wind — moving air
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. hand — in cards
  13. file — a line of people
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. chair — a leader
  16. wind — moving air
  17. degree — from a university
  18. bass — the fish
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. file — a tool
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. degree — temperature
  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