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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 goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. degree — an amount
  3. rock — music
  4. race — humankind
  5. season — of the year
  6. season — in sport
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. degree — from a university
  9. race — the arms race
  10. rock — a stone
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. race — a contest
  13. stand — to bear
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. hand — help
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. pitch — completely
  20. degree — temperature
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. hand — in cards
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. season — to add flavour

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