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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. cold — an illness
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. tear — to rip
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. degree — from a university
  8. degree — temperature
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. pop — soda
  11. craft — a skill
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. fork — in a road
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. tear — from crying
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. degree — an amount
  19. cold — not warm
  20. pop — to visit
  21. pop — music
  22. craft — boats
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. tear — from crying

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