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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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468
Word bank
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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. spell — a short time
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. stand — to bear
  6. court — of a king
  7. degree — temperature
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. race — humankind
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. spell — magic
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. court — of law
  18. spell — letters
  19. degree — from a university
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. race — a contest
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. court — for sport
  24. race — the arms race

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