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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 · degree · bore · sharp · last · calf · race · kid

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. last — finally
  3. degree — from a university
  4. race — humankind
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. race — a contest
  7. kid — to tease
  8. last — to go on
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. bore — to drill
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. degree — temperature
  15. last — final
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. degree — an amount
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. kid — child
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. race — the arms race
  24. bore — to tire

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