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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. chair — a leader
  3. content — happy
  4. degree — temperature
  5. degree — an amount
  6. file — a tool
  7. file — a line of people
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. content — the amount
  12. degree — from a university
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. file — a document
  16. bound — certain
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. bound — tied together
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. bound — obliged
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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