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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. club — a group
  3. last — final
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. last — to go on
  6. net — for catching
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. hand — help
  10. last — finally
  11. hand — in cards
  12. degree — an amount
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. club — for dancing
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. club — for golf
  17. net — after costs
  18. wind — moving air
  19. rock — a stone
  20. net — in sport
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. degree — temperature
  23. degree — from a university
  24. rock — music

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