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

Word bank: chest · saw · degree · tear · craft · straw

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. tear — from crying
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. degree — temperature
  5. chest — of your body
  6. craft — a skill
  7. saw — the tool
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. chest — of your body
  10. tear — from crying
  11. degree — an amount
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. craft — boats
  14. tear — to rip
  15. degree — from a university
  16. saw — the tool
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. chest — a box

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