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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. chair — a leader
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. key — in music
  6. field — farmland
  7. degree — from a university
  8. key — the most important part
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. key — for a lock
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. field — for sport
  14. prune — to trim
  15. saw — the tool
  16. field — a subject
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. prune — to trim
  19. degree — temperature
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. saw — the tool
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. straw — dry grass

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