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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 124 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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. cold — not warm
  3. leaves — of a tree
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. squash — to crush
  7. degree — an amount
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. plane — a tool
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. degree — from a university
  14. season — of the year
  15. cold — an illness
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. degree — temperature
  20. band — a ring
  21. squash — the sport
  22. band — a music group
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. season — in sport

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