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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. net — in sport
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. field — farmland
  7. net — after costs
  8. net — for catching
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. degree — an amount
  11. degree — temperature
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. field — for sport
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. field — a subject
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. degree — from a university
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. date — the fruit

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