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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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. degree — temperature
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. degree — an amount
  7. branch — a division
  8. cold — an illness
  9. row — a line
  10. row — to paddle
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. cold — not warm
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. degree — from a university
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. ruler — a monarch
  23. plane — a tool
  24. branch — of a tree

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