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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. Where did you ________________ them?
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. clip — for paper
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. bear — the animal
  5. degree — an amount
  6. clip — a video
  7. lean — to bend
  8. mug — to rob
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. mug — a cup
  12. bear — the animal
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. degree — from a university
  15. fall — the season
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. fall — to drop
  19. clip — to cut
  20. mug — a face
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. lean — thin
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. degree — temperature

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