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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 116 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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. mug — a cup
  3. root — of a plant
  4. mug — to rob
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. degree — temperature
  7. degree — an amount
  8. face — to point toward
  9. root — of a word
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. bass — low music
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. cold — an illness
  14. face — part of the head
  15. bass — the fish
  16. cold — not warm
  17. mug — a face
  18. root — the cause
  19. game — wild animals
  20. degree — from a university
  21. game — a match
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. face — to confront
  24. game — a kind of play

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