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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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. bass — low music
  4. degree — an amount
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. drill — army training
  7. chip — for betting
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. drill — the tool
  10. drill — a practice
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. lean — to bend
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. field — farmland
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. degree — from a university
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. field — a subject
  19. field — for sport
  20. chip — to eat
  21. lean — thin
  22. bat — the animal
  23. bass — the fish
  24. degree — temperature

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