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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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. bore — to tire
  5. wind — moving air
  6. spring — of water
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. degree — from a university
  9. degree — temperature
  10. face — part of the head
  11. hand — help
  12. hand — in cards
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. face — to confront
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. game — wild animals
  18. spring — a coil
  19. bore — to drill
  20. spring — the season
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. degree — an amount
  23. game — a match
  24. face — to point toward

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