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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  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. season — to add flavour
  2. degree — from a university
  3. degree — an amount
  4. season — of the year
  5. degree — temperature
  6. board — a committee
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. track — a path
  9. track — to keep track
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. saw — the tool
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. season — in sport
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. track — a song
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. hand — in cards
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. hand — help
  22. board — to get on
  23. saw — the tool
  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