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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. tear — to rip
  5. prune — to trim
  6. mark — a grade
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. tear — from crying
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. degree — temperature
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. mark — a trace
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. tear — from crying
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. wake — a trail
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. degree — from a university
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. prune — to trim
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. vault — a safe
  24. prune — the fruit

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