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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. wake — a trail
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. clip — for paper
  5. clip — a video
  6. clip — to cut
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. degree — temperature
  10. hand — in cards
  11. field — farmland
  12. field — a subject
  13. degree — from a university
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. degree — an amount
  16. field — for sport
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. hand — help

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