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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. pop — soda
  3. pop — music
  4. bat — the animal
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. tear — to rip
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. rush — hurry
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. pop — to visit
  13. degree — from a university
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. tear — from crying
  22. degree — an amount
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. tear — from crying

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