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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  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. degree — from a university
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. march — music
  4. march — the month
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. row — a line
  10. march — the month
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. degree — an amount
  14. bat — the animal
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. pass — a permit
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. degree — temperature
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. row — to paddle
  23. patient — a sick person
  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