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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. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. cold — not warm
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. rush — hurry
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wind — moving air
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. degree — an amount
  11. jam — in traffic
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. degree — from a university
  14. cold — an illness
  15. degree — temperature
  16. wake — a trail
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. jam — a tight spot
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. cold — the Cold War

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