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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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. fall — to drop
  4. current — happening now
  5. season — in sport
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. perch — the fish
  8. current — electric
  9. degree — an amount
  10. current — of water
  11. fall — to drop
  12. season — of the year
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. degree — temperature
  15. cold — an illness
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. fall — the season
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. cold — not warm
  23. degree — from a university
  24. season — to add flavour

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