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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. mate — to breed
  4. spell — a short time
  5. degree — temperature
  6. lean — to bend
  7. spell — letters
  8. race — the arms race
  9. dip — to sink
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. mate — a friend
  13. mate — a partner
  14. capital — money
  15. degree — from a university
  16. lean — thin
  17. spell — magic
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. race — a contest
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. capital — a city
  24. race — humankind

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