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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 116 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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. face — to confront
  4. face — to point toward
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. degree — from a university
  7. degree — temperature
  8. cue — a hint
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. cue — for pool
  11. stock — goods
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. cue — a signal
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. stock — shares
  16. degree — an amount
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cold — an illness

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