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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: wave · hand · cue · lean · degree · last · cell · file

  1. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. wave — of the sea
  3. degree — an amount
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. file — a tool
  7. cell — a phone
  8. hand — help
  9. file — a line of people
  10. cue — for pool
  11. last — finally
  12. lean — to bend
  13. lean — thin
  14. degree — temperature
  15. hand — in cards
  16. file — a document
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. degree — from a university
  19. cell — in biology
  20. last — to go on
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. cue — a signal
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. last — final

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