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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 116 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. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. degree — an amount
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. tube — a container
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. band — a music group
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. firm — steady
  10. band — a ring
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. clip — for paper
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. rock — a stone
  15. clip — a video
  16. tube — the underground
  17. clip — to cut
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. rock — music
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. degree — from a university
  22. firm — a company
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. degree — temperature

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