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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 116 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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. tear — from crying
  5. pass — to spend time
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. degree — from a university
  9. spell — letters
  10. key — in music
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. key — the most important part
  13. spell — a short time
  14. key — for a lock
  15. tear — from crying
  16. perch — the fish
  17. tear — to rip
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. spell — magic
  20. pass — a permit
  21. degree — temperature
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. perch — for a bird

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