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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. root — the cause
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. degree — an amount
  7. band — a ring
  8. degree — from a university
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. degree — temperature
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. band — a music group
  13. face — part of the head
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. root — of a word
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. toast — a drink to someone
  18. face — to point toward
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. toast — bread
  21. cold — an illness
  22. face — to confront
  23. root — of a plant
  24. cold — not warm

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