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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. degree — temperature
  3. row — a line
  4. squash — the sport
  5. degree — from a university
  6. last — final
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. kid — child
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. kid — to tease
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. last — finally
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. squash — to crush
  22. last — to go on
  23. row — to paddle
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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