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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. hand — help
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. cap — of ice
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. row — to paddle
  7. row — a line
  8. cap — a hat
  9. degree — from a university
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. clip — to cut
  13. content — happy
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. clip — for paper
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. deal — to handle
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. content — the amount
  20. clip — a video
  21. cap — a lid
  22. degree — temperature
  23. degree — an amount
  24. hand — in cards

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