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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 120 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 · snap · bat · cold · rest · degree · hand · safe

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. rest — what's left
  4. rest — a break
  5. safe — out of danger
  6. cold — not warm
  7. bat — the animal
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. snap — to click
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. safe — a strongbox
  15. cold — an illness
  16. hand — in cards
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. hand — help
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. degree — from a university
  23. degree — an amount
  24. rest — what's left

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