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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: kick · lean · degree · bat · hide · bass · temple · straw

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. When was this ________________ built?
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. lean — thin
  6. degree — temperature
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. bass — low music
  14. kick — in football
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. bat — the animal
  21. lean — to bend
  22. degree — an amount
  23. bass — the fish
  24. bat — for baseball

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