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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: wound · cap · present · kick · degree · wave

  1. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. degree — from a university
  3. cap — a hat
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. degree — temperature
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. present — the time now
  12. degree — an amount
  13. cap — a lid
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. present — a gift
  17. kick — in football
  18. present — there

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