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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. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a cup
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. spring — of water
  4. tube — the underground
  5. mug — to rob
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. tube — a container
  8. degree — an amount
  9. spring — the season
  10. mug — a face
  11. lean — to bend
  12. root — of a plant
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. spring — a coil
  16. degree — temperature
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. root — the cause
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. lean — thin
  22. root — of a word
  23. degree — from a university
  24. tube — in a tire

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