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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. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — a sudden rise
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. roll — a cake
  4. mate — a friend
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. degree — temperature
  8. land — to come down
  9. roll — a list
  10. mine — for digging
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. mate — to breed
  14. degree — from a university
  15. cold — not warm
  16. land — a country
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. degree — an amount
  19. cold — an illness
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. mate — a partner
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wound — an injury
  24. land — ground

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