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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. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. bear — the animal
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. mine — for digging
  6. bat — the animal
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. degree — from a university
  10. stock — shares
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. bear — the animal
  15. degree — temperature
  16. degree — an amount
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. wind — moving air
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. stock — goods
  24. mine — an explosive

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