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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. degree — from a university
  3. plane — a tool
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. wound — an injury
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. degree — temperature
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. file — a document
  14. wake — a trail
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. degree — an amount
  18. file — a tool
  19. file — a line of people
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. wound — an injury
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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