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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 120 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Where did you ________________ them?
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. degree — from a university
  5. rule — a law
  6. tear — from crying
  7. mug — to rob
  8. degree — an amount
  9. tear — from crying
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. mug — a face
  12. degree — temperature
  13. rule — government
  14. tear — to rip
  15. bat — the animal
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. mug — a cup

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