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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. hand — in cards
  3. track — to keep track
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. track — a path
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cue — for pool
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. cue — a hint
  10. cue — a signal
  11. track — a song
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. hand — help
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. root — of a word
  17. degree — an amount
  18. degree — temperature
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. root — of a plant
  21. cold — an illness
  22. root — the cause
  23. cold — not warm
  24. degree — from a university

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