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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: pitcher · cold · suit · date · wake · lean · spell · degree

  1. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. When will it ________________ you to start?
  17. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. degree — an amount
  3. lean — thin
  4. spell — letters
  5. spell — magic
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. suit — clothes
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. cold — not warm
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. cold — an illness
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. degree — from a university
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. suit — to fit
  17. suit — in cards
  18. lean — to bend
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. date — the fruit
  21. spell — a short time
  22. degree — temperature
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. wake — a trail

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