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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: spell · rest · stick · cell · hide · degree · pop · straw

  1. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. pop — soda
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. spell — letters
  5. spell — magic
  6. cell — in biology
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. rest — what's left
  9. rest — a break
  10. degree — temperature
  11. pop — to visit
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. spell — a short time
  16. rest — what's left
  17. degree — from a university
  18. degree — an amount
  19. cell — a phone
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. pop — music

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