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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. march — the month
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. rock — a stone
  6. bat — the animal
  7. fall — the season
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. march — music
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. degree — temperature
  14. degree — an amount
  15. fall — to drop
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. fall — to drop
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. march — the month
  21. rock — music
  22. kick — in football
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. wake — a trail

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