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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 120 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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. kid — child
  5. pitch — completely
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. kid — to tease
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. degree — an amount
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. degree — from a university
  16. sharp — clever
  17. degree — temperature
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. plane — a tool
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. pitch — a sports field

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