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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. degree — from a university
  4. field — farmland
  5. degree — temperature
  6. deal — to handle
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. pass — a permit
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. bat — the animal
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. field — for sport
  18. degree — an amount
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. plane — a tool
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. field — a subject
  24. straw — a straw man

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