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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. lean — thin
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. current — electric
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. current — happening now
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. current — of water
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. lean — to bend
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. degree — from a university
  14. rush — hurry
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. face — to point toward
  18. face — to confront
  19. face — part of the head
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. mine — for digging
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. degree — temperature

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