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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. When will it ________________ you to start?
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. rock — music
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. rock — a stone
  7. degree — an amount
  8. suit — to fit
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. snap — to click
  11. drill — a practice
  12. drill — army training
  13. suit — clothes
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. degree — temperature
  16. drill — the tool
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. suit — in cards
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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