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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. degree — an amount
  4. last — final
  5. degree — from a university
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. file — a document
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. pit — a hole
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. file — a tool
  17. file — a line of people
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. last — to go on
  20. pit — in a race
  21. degree — temperature
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. chair — a leader
  24. last — finally

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