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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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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: rock · wave · degree · rash · foot · branch · kick · wake

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. rock — music
  3. rash — hasty
  4. degree — from a university
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. degree — temperature
  8. wake — a trail
  9. foot — part of the body
  10. rash — a series
  11. kick — in football
  12. branch — a division
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. foot — a measure
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. rock — a stone
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. degree — an amount
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. rash — on the skin

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