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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. stem — to come from
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. degree — from a university
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. degree — temperature
  11. vault — a safe
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. sharp — clever
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. fall — the season
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. plane — a tool
  21. fall — to drop
  22. fall — to drop
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. hide — to keep secret

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