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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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. wave — a sudden rise
  3. swing — to play on
  4. mark — a grade
  5. swing — in golf
  6. face — to confront
  7. degree — temperature
  8. degree — from a university
  9. prune — to trim
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. mark — a trace
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. kid — child
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. swing — music
  16. wound — an injury
  17. kid — to tease
  18. face — to point toward
  19. wound — an injury
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. degree — an amount
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. prune — to trim
  24. prune — the fruit

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