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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 124 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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. degree — an amount
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. file — a tool
  5. chest — of your body
  6. safe — a strongbox
  7. current — electric
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. file — a line of people
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. current — happening now
  13. file — a document
  14. chest — a box
  15. rash — hasty
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. degree — temperature
  18. rash — a series
  19. season — in sport
  20. current — of water
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. season — of the year
  24. chest — of your body

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