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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 · pass · wind

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. track — a song
  3. race — humankind
  4. race — a contest
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. degree — an amount
  7. wind — moving air
  8. degree — temperature
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. degree — from a university
  11. track — a path
  12. track — to keep track
  13. cold — not warm
  14. race — the arms race
  15. pass — a permit
  16. deal — to handle
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. wind — moving air
  20. cold — an illness
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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