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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. pop — soda
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. stem — to come from
  9. degree — temperature
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. degree — an amount
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. spell — a short time
  15. spell — magic
  16. kick — in football
  17. degree — from a university
  18. spell — letters
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. club — for dancing
  21. club — a group
  22. pop — music
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. pop — to visit

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