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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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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: degree · march · saw · cold · wake · cabinet · cap · straw

  1. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. saw — the tool
  6. degree — temperature
  7. march — music
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. saw — the tool
  10. cold — an illness
  11. wake — a trail
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. cold — not warm
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. degree — from a university
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. march — the month
  19. cap — a hat
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. cap — of ice
  22. degree — an amount
  23. march — the month
  24. cap — a lid

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