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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. mate — a partner
  3. drill — the tool
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. degree — temperature
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. bass — low music
  8. degree — an amount
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. drill — army training
  11. tube — the underground
  12. mate — a friend
  13. degree — from a university
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. bass — the fish
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. capital — money
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. mate — to breed
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. tube — a container
  22. capital — a city
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. drill — a practice

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