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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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. prune — to trim
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. degree — from a university
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. chip — to eat
  10. last — to go on
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. last — final
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. degree — temperature
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. chip — for betting
  18. last — finally
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. prune — to trim
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. prune — the fruit

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