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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. degree — an amount
  4. foot — a measure
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. wind — moving air
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. spell — letters
  9. spell — magic
  10. lean — to bend
  11. spell — a short time
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. stand — to bear
  15. wind — moving air
  16. degree — from a university
  17. degree — temperature
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. kid — child
  23. lean — thin
  24. stand — on your feet

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