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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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. sharp — clever
  3. degree — temperature
  4. pitch — completely
  5. object — to protest
  6. object — an aim
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. wake — a trail
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. deal — to handle
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. degree — from a university
  15. cell — a phone
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. cell — in biology
  18. object — a thing
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. degree — an amount
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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