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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. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. roll — a list
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. hand — help
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. perch — the fish
  9. kick — in football
  10. hand — in cards
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. sharp — clever
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. degree — an amount
  16. roll — a cake
  17. degree — temperature
  18. shower — rain
  19. shower — to wash
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. degree — from a university
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. roll — on a roll

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