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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 120 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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  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. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. race — humankind
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. race — the arms race
  6. race — a contest
  7. cold — not warm
  8. bound — obliged
  9. tear — from crying
  10. tear — to rip
  11. degree — temperature
  12. court — of a king
  13. bound — certain
  14. cold — an illness
  15. court — for sport
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. court — of law
  19. tear — from crying
  20. degree — an amount
  21. ruler — a monarch
  22. bound — tied together
  23. degree — from a university
  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