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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. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — a stone
  2. ground — a position
  3. degree — an amount
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. rock — music
  8. degree — temperature
  9. rash — hasty
  10. band — a ring
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — moving air
  13. ground — crushed
  14. rush — hurry
  15. rash — a series
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. band — a music group
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. ground — the earth
  22. degree — from a university
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. rush — to hurry

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