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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. pit — a hole
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. degree — an amount
  5. row — to paddle
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. sharp — clever
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. current — electric
  10. degree — temperature
  11. row — a line
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. bat — the animal
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. current — of water
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. current — happening now
  20. pit — in a race
  21. degree — from a university
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. row — a quarrel

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