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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. mate — a friend
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. saw — the tool
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. degree — from a university
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. chip — to eat
  17. saw — the tool
  18. mate — to breed
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. chip — for betting
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. mate — a partner
  24. degree — temperature

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