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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. degree — temperature
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. bass — the fish
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. stand — to bear
  11. degree — from a university
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. degree — an amount
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cold — an illness
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. bass — low music
  18. straw — dry grass

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