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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. squash — the sport
  5. march — the month
  6. degree — from a university
  7. degree — an amount
  8. tear — from crying
  9. fall — to drop
  10. tear — to rip
  11. lean — thin
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. tear — from crying
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. squash — to crush
  17. march — music
  18. degree — temperature
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. fall — to drop
  22. march — the month
  23. lean — to bend
  24. fall — the season

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