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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. track — to keep track
  3. prune — to trim
  4. wind — moving air
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. degree — temperature
  7. can — to be able to
  8. last — to go on
  9. can — a tin
  10. last — final
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. degree — an amount
  15. prune — to trim
  16. wind — moving air
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. kick — in football
  19. last — finally
  20. can — a tin
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. track — a song
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. track — a path

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