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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. The tickets are free of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. degree — from a university
  3. charge — in control
  4. tear — from crying
  5. land — a country
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. land — to come down
  8. net — for catching
  9. tear — to rip
  10. tear — from crying
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. net — after costs
  13. land — ground
  14. charge — electricity
  15. chest — of your body
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. branch — a division
  18. chest — of your body
  19. degree — temperature
  20. degree — an amount
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. chest — a box
  23. net — in sport
  24. charge — a price

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