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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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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: bay · kid · game · wave · rock · last · degree · content

  1. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. degree — an amount
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. last — final
  5. game — a match
  6. last — to go on
  7. game — wild animals
  8. kid — to tease
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. kid — child
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. degree — temperature
  13. content — the amount
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. degree — from a university
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. last — finally
  22. content — happy
  23. rock — music
  24. rock — a stone

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