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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. spring — a coil
  3. snap — to click
  4. spring — of water
  5. spring — the season
  6. tear — from crying
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. tear — from crying
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. face — to confront
  14. degree — an amount
  15. perch — the fish
  16. degree — temperature
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. face — to point toward
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. face — part of the head
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. degree — from a university
  23. tear — to rip
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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