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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. last — final
  3. last — finally
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. degree — from a university
  6. row — a line
  7. kid — to tease
  8. snap — to click
  9. kid — child
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. last — to go on
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. pound — a weight
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. degree — an amount
  16. game — a match
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. degree — temperature
  19. row — to paddle
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. game — wild animals
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. row — a quarrel

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