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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. degree — temperature
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. branch — a division
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. dip — to sink
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. degree — from a university
  11. degree — an amount
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. game — a match
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. season — of the year
  20. season — in sport
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. game — wild animals

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