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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. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. rock — music
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. rock — a stone
  7. net — in sport
  8. current — happening now
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. net — for catching
  11. shower — to wash
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. degree — an amount
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. shower — rain
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. current — electric
  18. net — after costs
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. current — of water
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. degree — temperature

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