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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 120 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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. cold — not warm
  3. hand — help
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. degree — temperature
  7. hand — in cards
  8. degree — from a university
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. wake — a trail
  14. plane — a tool
  15. cold — an illness
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. content — the amount
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. degree — an amount
  21. ruler — a monarch
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. content — happy
  24. hand — part of the body

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