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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. degree — from a university
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. spell — a short time
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. rest — what's left
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. ball — a dance
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. rest — a break
  16. ball — a great time
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. rest — what's left
  19. spell — letters
  20. spell — magic
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. degree — temperature
  24. ball — a round shape

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