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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: deal · cold · track · race · wave · degree

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. degree — an amount
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. race — humankind
  8. track — a path
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. deal — to handle
  11. track — a song
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. degree — temperature
  14. cold — not warm
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. race — the arms race
  17. degree — from a university
  18. race — a contest

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