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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. sharp — clever
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. degree — an amount
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. degree — from a university
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. file — a line of people
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. mine — for digging
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. degree — temperature
  23. file — a document
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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