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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.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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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 · rock · calf · clip · key · cold · plane · degree

  1. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wave — a sudden rise
  2. clip — to cut
  3. degree — an amount
  4. key — for a lock
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. clip — for paper
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. plane — a tool
  11. key — the most important part
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. degree — temperature
  14. degree — from a university
  15. rock — music
  16. cold — an illness
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. key — in music
  21. cold — not warm
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. rock — a stone
  24. clip — a video

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