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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. degree — from a university
  4. sharp — clever
  5. branch — a division
  6. lie — to recline
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. field — farmland
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. field — for sport
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. dip — to sink
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. saw — the tool
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. saw — the tool
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. degree — an amount
  23. field — a subject
  24. lie — an untruth

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