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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: wake · nail · dip · hand · degree · field · row · last

  1. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. row — a line
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. hand — in cards
  5. field — a subject
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. degree — from a university
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. hand — help
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. row — to paddle
  14. field — farmland
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. degree — temperature
  17. last — to go on
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. last — final
  20. last — finally
  21. field — for sport
  22. degree — an amount
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. dip — to sink

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