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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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. degree — from a university
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. row — to paddle
  7. cell — a phone
  8. degree — an amount
  9. degree — temperature
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. spring — the season
  13. spring — a coil
  14. cell — in biology
  15. staff — employees
  16. sharp — clever
  17. staff — a stick
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. row — a line
  22. spring — of water
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. staff — employees

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