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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. craft — a skill
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. degree — from a university
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. craft — boats
  11. net — in sport
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. net — for catching
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cold — an illness
  16. net — after costs
  17. degree — temperature
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. date — the fruit
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. degree — an amount
  24. wake — a trail

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