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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
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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: straw · degree · coach · land · kid · track · last · lean

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. last — finally
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. track — a song
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. degree — from a university
  7. kid — to tease
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. last — to go on
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. land — to come down
  13. lean — to bend
  14. degree — an amount
  15. track — to keep track
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. last — final
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. lean — thin
  21. track — a path
  22. land — a country
  23. land — ground
  24. degree — temperature

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