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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. bear — the animal
  3. wind — moving air
  4. last — final
  5. wake — a trail
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. last — to go on
  9. degree — from a university
  10. land — to come down
  11. wind — moving air
  12. land — ground
  13. degree — temperature
  14. swing — music
  15. cap — of ice
  16. swing — to play on
  17. swing — in golf
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. land — a country
  21. cap — a lid
  22. cap — a hat
  23. degree — an amount
  24. bear — the animal

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