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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. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a grade
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. game — a match
  5. degree — from a university
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. mark — a trace
  8. wind — moving air
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. game — wild animals
  15. wind — moving air
  16. scale — in music
  17. degree — temperature
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. pitch — completely
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. degree — an amount
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. scale — size or range
  24. wind — to turn a key

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