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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. field — a subject
  8. field — for sport
  9. field — farmland
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. club — for dancing
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. cell — in biology
  14. degree — temperature
  15. shower — rain
  16. cell — a phone
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. shower — to wash
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. club — a group
  22. degree — an amount
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. club — for golf

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