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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.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: fall · degree · straw · chip · march · wind

  1. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. 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. march — the month
  2. fall — to drop
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. fall — the season
  5. degree — from a university
  6. wind — moving air
  7. fall — to drop
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. chip — for betting
  11. degree — an amount
  12. march — music
  13. march — the month
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. chip — to eat
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. 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