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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 university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. My mare is ________________ in color.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. wave — a sudden rise
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. cold — not warm
  8. rash — a series
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. clip — to cut
  11. ruler — a monarch
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. bay — a horse colour
  14. degree — temperature
  15. clip — a video
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. rash — hasty
  19. clip — for paper
  20. cold — an illness
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. degree — an amount
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. ruler — for measuring

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