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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. rock — music
  5. court — for sport
  6. game — wild animals
  7. rest — a break
  8. content — happy
  9. content — the amount
  10. degree — from a university
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. court — of law
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. rest — what's left
  17. branch — a division
  18. degree — an amount
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. rock — a stone
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. game — a match
  23. court — of a king
  24. rest — what's left

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