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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: race · straw · cold · perch · lash · nail · degree · safe

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. degree — from a university
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. degree — temperature
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. safe — a strongbox
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. cold — an illness
  13. degree — an amount
  14. race — the arms race
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. cold — not warm
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. safe — out of danger
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. perch — the fish
  22. race — a contest
  23. race — humankind
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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