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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. bulb — for light
  4. degree — temperature
  5. cold — an illness
  6. capital — a city
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. lie — to recline
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. bulb — for light
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. degree — from a university
  18. snap — to click
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. degree — an amount
  21. capital — money
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. straw — dry grass

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