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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 116 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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  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. object — to protest
  2. fork — in a road
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. board — to get on
  5. object — a thing
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. degree — an amount
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. degree — temperature
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. board — a committee
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. cold — an illness
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. cell — a phone
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cell — in biology
  19. object — an aim
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. degree — from a university
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. fork — to eat with
  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