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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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: leaves · spring · bass · straw · last · degree · hand · lie

  1. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. hand — help
  3. bass — the fish
  4. hand — in cards
  5. degree — temperature
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. last — finally
  9. spring — the season
  10. lie — to recline
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. last — to go on
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. degree — from a university
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. degree — an amount
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. spring — a coil
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. bass — low music
  23. spring — of water
  24. last — final

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