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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. fall — the season
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. fall — to drop
  6. degree — an amount
  7. toast — bread
  8. degree — from a university
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. sharp — clever
  13. kick — in football
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. toast — a drink to someone
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. degree — temperature
  19. toast — the most admired
  20. fall — to drop
  21. mine — for digging
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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