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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. degree — from a university
  3. saw — the tool
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. hand — help
  6. degree — temperature
  7. cold — an illness
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. degree — an amount
  11. roll — a list
  12. roll — a cake
  13. saw — the tool
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. bound — certain
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. hand — in cards
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. bound — obliged
  24. bound — tied together

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