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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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. degree — an amount
  7. rule — a law
  8. date — the fruit
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. fork — in a road
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. degree — from a university
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. rule — government
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. degree — temperature
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. row — a line
  23. row — to paddle
  24. coach — a trainer

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