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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: kid · cold · wave · degree · pop · bank · foot · ball

  1. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  2. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — with your hand
  2. bank — of a river
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. foot — a measure
  5. degree — temperature
  6. kid — to tease
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. pop — to visit
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. degree — an amount
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. ball — a dance
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. pop — music
  15. cold — an illness
  16. kid — child
  17. pop — soda
  18. degree — from a university
  19. bank — for money
  20. bank — for money
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. cold — not warm
  23. ball — a great time
  24. ball — a round shape

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