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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. drill — a practice
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. pitch — completely
  6. saw — the tool
  7. court — of law
  8. degree — temperature
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. court — for sport
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. saw — the tool
  13. land — a country
  14. land — ground
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. drill — army training
  18. degree — from a university
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. drill — the tool
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. degree — an amount
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. court — of a king

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