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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 116 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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. capital — money
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. degree — from a university
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. degree — temperature
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. kid — to tease
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. wind — moving air
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. capital — a city
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. wind — moving air
  24. kid — child

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