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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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. content — happy
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. degree — temperature
  10. last — final
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. game — a match
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. deal — to handle
  19. degree — from a university
  20. last — to go on
  21. content — the amount
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. degree — an amount
  24. last — finally

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