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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.

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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. degree — from a university
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. rush — hurry
  5. face — part of the head
  6. hand — in cards
  7. content — the amount
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. band — a music group
  10. face — to confront
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. band — a ring
  13. hand — help
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. degree — an amount
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. degree — temperature
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. content — happy
  24. face — to point toward

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