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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: march · foot · degree · race · trunk · bass · net · straw

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. march — music
  3. net — in sport
  4. race — humankind
  5. degree — an amount
  6. bass — the fish
  7. degree — temperature
  8. march — the month
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. race — the arms race
  11. foot — a measure
  12. net — for catching
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. net — after costs
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. race — a contest
  19. bass — low music
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. march — the month
  22. degree — from a university
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. foot — the bottom

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