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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 124 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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. degree — from a university
  3. cap — a lid
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. cap — a hat
  7. degree — an amount
  8. rest — a break
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. rest — what's left
  16. bat — the animal
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. degree — temperature
  19. cap — of ice
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. rest — what's left
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. straw — dry grass

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