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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. tube — a container
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. degree — an amount
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. degree — from a university
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. degree — temperature
  14. hand — help
  15. tube — the underground
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. mine — for digging
  19. hand — in cards
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wound — an injury
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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