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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: date · cell · race · wound · bass · cap · wave · degree

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. wave — of the sea
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. wound — an injury
  5. cap — a hat
  6. cap — of ice
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. degree — from a university
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. race — the arms race
  12. bass — low music
  13. cell — in biology
  14. race — humankind
  15. bass — the fish
  16. degree — an amount
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. race — a contest
  20. wound — an injury
  21. degree — temperature
  22. cell — a phone
  23. cap — a lid
  24. date — the fruit

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