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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  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. hand — help
  2. hand — in cards
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. last — final
  5. degree — from a university
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. firm — a company
  10. degree — an amount
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. degree — temperature
  13. last — to go on
  14. land — a country
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. wound — an injury
  17. land — to come down
  18. land — ground
  19. wound — an injury
  20. firm — decided
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. sharp — clever
  23. firm — steady
  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