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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 116 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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. bat — the animal
  4. degree — an amount
  5. land — ground
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. spring — a coil
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. land — to come down
  10. degree — from a university
  11. fall — the season
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. fall — to drop
  14. degree — temperature
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. land — a country
  17. fall — to drop
  18. spring — the season
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. fork — in a road
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. hide — animal skin

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