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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 120 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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. fine — all right
  3. press — a publisher
  4. present — a gift
  5. present — there
  6. temple — side of the head
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. degree — from a university
  9. bat — the animal
  10. present — the time now
  11. press — newspapers
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. degree — an amount
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. row — a line
  17. row — to paddle
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. degree — temperature
  21. fine — high quality
  22. press — to push
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. fine — a penalty

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