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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 university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. bound — certain
  3. key — the most important part
  4. spring — a coil
  5. spring — the season
  6. degree — an amount
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. bound — tied together
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. key — in music
  11. degree — temperature
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. chest — of your body
  14. chest — of your body
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. spring — of water
  17. chest — a box
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. stand — to bear
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. bound — obliged
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. key — for a lock

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