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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 124 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 hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. lie — to recline
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. saw — the tool
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. degree — an amount
  8. degree — from a university
  9. roll — a list
  10. degree — temperature
  11. saw — the tool
  12. net — after costs
  13. net — in sport
  14. cold — not warm
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. roll — a cake
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. net — for catching
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. lie — an untruth

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