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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: wake · wind · dip · race · date · degree

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. race — a contest
  3. degree — temperature
  4. degree — an amount
  5. wake — a trail
  6. wind — moving air
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. degree — from a university
  9. date — the fruit
  10. dip — to sink
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. race — the arms race
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. wind — moving air
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. race — humankind

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