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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 lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — with your hand
  2. chest — of your body
  3. key — the most important part
  4. degree — from a university
  5. wound — an injury
  6. spell — letters
  7. bound — certain
  8. degree — temperature
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. wound — an injury
  11. current — happening now
  12. chest — of your body
  13. key — in music
  14. current — electric
  15. bound — obliged
  16. current — of water
  17. key — for a lock
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. bound — tied together
  20. chest — a box
  21. degree — an amount
  22. spell — a short time
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. spell — magic

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