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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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. date — the fruit
  4. club — for dancing
  5. bark — to shout
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. ball — a great time
  11. degree — temperature
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. ball — a dance
  14. cap — of ice
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. club — for golf
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. degree — from a university
  21. cap — a hat
  22. club — a group
  23. cap — a lid
  24. straw — dry grass

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