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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. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. spell — magic
  3. net — for catching
  4. saw — the tool
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. spell — a short time
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. degree — an amount
  9. saw — the tool
  10. degree — temperature
  11. cold — not warm
  12. degree — from a university
  13. spell — letters
  14. net — after costs
  15. fall — to drop
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. cold — an illness
  19. net — in sport
  20. fall — to drop
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. capital — a city
  23. capital — money
  24. fall — the season

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