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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: wave · race · tear · bowl · degree · hand

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. tear — from crying
  3. degree — temperature
  4. degree — an amount
  5. degree — from a university
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. race — a contest
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. hand — in cards
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. tear — from crying
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. tear — to rip
  14. hand — help
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. race — humankind
  18. race — the arms race

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