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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. degree — from a university
  3. perch — the fish
  4. saw — the tool
  5. saw — the tool
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. shower — rain
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. band — a music group
  12. degree — temperature
  13. season — of the year
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. squash — the sport
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. degree — an amount
  20. shower — to wash
  21. season — in sport
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. squash — to crush
  24. band — a rubber band

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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