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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. staff — a stick
  3. staff — employees
  4. drill — a practice
  5. drill — the tool
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. swing — in golf
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. bound — obliged
  11. bound — tied together
  12. bound — certain
  13. degree — temperature
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. drill — army training
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. staff — employees
  18. swing — music
  19. degree — an amount
  20. pitch — completely
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. swing — to play on

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