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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. chest — a box
  3. bat — the animal
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. ruler — a monarch
  8. cell — a phone
  9. degree — an amount
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. chest — of your body
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. degree — from a university
  18. degree — temperature
  19. wind — moving air
  20. pop — to visit
  21. pop — soda
  22. cell — in biology
  23. pop — music
  24. chest — of your body

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