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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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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. fine — high quality
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. degree — an amount
  6. degree — temperature
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. field — for sport
  9. field — farmland
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. field — a subject
  13. spring — the season
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. spring — of water
  16. kick — in football
  17. fine — all right
  18. degree — from a university

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