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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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. tube — a container
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. degree — temperature
  9. bark — to shout
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. ball — a dance
  12. tube — the underground
  13. game — wild animals
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. ball — a great time
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. degree — an amount
  22. plane — a tool
  23. degree — from a university
  24. game — a match

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