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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. tear — from crying
  5. mate — a friend
  6. degree — from a university
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. mate — a partner
  9. degree — temperature
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. degree — an amount
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. tear — from crying
  14. stem — to come from
  15. tear — to rip
  16. mate — to breed
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. cell — in biology
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. nail — for a hammer

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