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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. wound — an injury
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. dip — to sink
  6. wound — an injury
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. staff — employees
  10. last — final
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. last — to go on
  15. bat — the animal
  16. staff — a stick
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. staff — employees
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. degree — temperature
  22. kick — in football
  23. degree — from a university
  24. degree — an amount

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