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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. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. degree — from a university
  5. game — a match
  6. clip — to cut
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. wake — a trail
  9. degree — an amount
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. clip — a video
  14. present — there
  15. game — wild animals
  16. clip — for paper
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. degree — temperature
  20. present — the time now
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. present — a gift
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. pound — to hit hard

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