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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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  8. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. degree — from a university
  3. wind — moving air
  4. clip — for paper
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. degree — an amount
  7. ruler — a monarch
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. clip — to cut
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. clip — a video
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. wind — moving air
  16. degree — temperature
  17. craft — boats
  18. craft — a skill

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