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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  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. track — a song
  2. degree — temperature
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. track — to keep track
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. cold — not warm
  7. rash — a series
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. degree — from a university
  12. rash — hasty
  13. cold — an illness
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. track — a path
  16. degree — an amount
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. pitch — completely
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. arm — part of the body
  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