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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. I've got to change the light ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. season — of the year
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. spring — the season
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. degree — from a university
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wind — moving air
  11. last — to go on
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. season — in sport
  14. spring — a coil
  15. degree — temperature
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. bulb — for light
  18. wind — moving air
  19. last — final
  20. last — finally
  21. degree — an amount
  22. spring — of water
  23. wound — an injury
  24. bulb — for light

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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