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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 hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. chest — of your body
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. degree — from a university
  5. clip — to cut
  6. clip — a video
  7. object — a thing
  8. degree — an amount
  9. object — an aim
  10. object — to protest
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. degree — temperature
  13. chest — of your body
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. vault — a safe
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. bear — the animal
  20. bear — the animal
  21. clip — for paper
  22. chest — a box
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. straw — a straw man

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