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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. cell — in biology
  3. degree — an amount
  4. pitch — completely
  5. cell — a phone
  6. chest — of your body
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. key — the most important part
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. key — for a lock
  13. chest — of your body
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. perch — the fish
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. season — of the year
  20. chest — a box
  21. degree — from a university
  22. key — in music
  23. season — in sport
  24. degree — temperature

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