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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  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. last — final
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. row — to paddle
  4. game — a match
  5. degree — an amount
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. last — to go on
  8. present — a gift
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. game — wild animals
  12. lie — to recline
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. present — there
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. degree — from a university
  19. row — a line
  20. last — finally
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. present — the time now
  23. lie — an untruth
  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