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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'll be taking the ________________.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. lean — thin
  3. last — final
  4. tube — a container
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. degree — from a university
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. last — finally
  13. sharp — clever
  14. last — to go on
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. craft — boats
  18. degree — an amount
  19. lean — to bend
  20. bat — the animal
  21. degree — temperature
  22. craft — a skill
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. craft — a handicraft

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