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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. prune — to trim
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. band — a ring
  6. deal — to handle
  7. degree — an amount
  8. band — a music group
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. degree — from a university
  12. degree — temperature
  13. bay — a part of the sea
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. clip — a video
  16. prune — to trim
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. mine — for digging
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. clip — to cut
  23. clip — for paper
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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