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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. degree — temperature
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. sharp — clever
  5. season — of the year
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. tear — from crying
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. tear — from crying
  13. land — ground
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. season — in sport
  17. degree — an amount
  18. degree — from a university
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. land — to come down
  23. wake — a trail
  24. tear — to rip

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