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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. degree — temperature
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. degree — from a university
  5. cold — not warm
  6. court — of a king
  7. cold — an illness
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. court — of law
  10. stock — shares
  11. bore — to drill
  12. degree — an amount
  13. mate — a partner
  14. bore — to tire
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. rule — government
  20. court — for sport
  21. mate — a friend
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. mate — to breed
  24. stock — goods

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