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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. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  2. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — a sudden rise
  2. wave — of the sea
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. net — after costs
  6. file — a tool
  7. cell — a phone
  8. swing — music
  9. file — a line of people
  10. degree — from a university
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. degree — an amount
  13. file — a document
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. swing — in golf
  17. degree — temperature
  18. swing — to play on
  19. net — for catching
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. cell — in biology
  22. mine — for digging
  23. net — in sport
  24. chair — a leader

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