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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. rock — music
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. shower — rain
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. kid — child
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. degree — temperature
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. shower — to wash
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. degree — an amount
  18. rock — a stone
  19. kid — to tease
  20. branch — a division
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. wake — a trail
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. degree — from a university

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