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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 116 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: drill · straw · tear · rush · degree · stem · pass · cold

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. cold — not warm
  5. pass — to spend time
  6. drill — army training
  7. stem — to come from
  8. drill — a practice
  9. drill — the tool
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. tear — from crying
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. tear — from crying
  14. rush — hurry
  15. degree — from a university
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. tear — to rip
  18. cold — an illness
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. degree — temperature
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. degree — an amount
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. pass — a permit

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