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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. fall — to drop
  3. degree — temperature
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. wind — moving air
  6. cue — for pool
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. field — for sport
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. wind — moving air
  11. fall — to drop
  12. degree — from a university
  13. field — farmland
  14. field — a subject
  15. spell — a short time
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. cue — a hint
  18. spell — letters
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. fall — the season
  22. cue — a signal
  23. degree — an amount
  24. spell — magic

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