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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 116 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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. swing — to play on
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. degree — temperature
  7. fall — the season
  8. mate — to breed
  9. game — a match
  10. swing — in golf
  11. mate — a friend
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. degree — an amount
  15. swing — music
  16. fall — to drop
  17. fall — to drop
  18. degree — from a university
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. game — wild animals
  22. bark — to shout
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. mate — a partner

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