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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: row · stand · rock · game · rest · degree · ground · straw

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. degree — an amount
  3. stand — to bear
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. degree — temperature
  7. game — wild animals
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. game — a match
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. rock — a stone
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. row — a line
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. rest — what's left
  16. ground — the earth
  17. rest — a break
  18. ground — crushed
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. row — to paddle
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. ground — a position
  23. rest — what's left
  24. degree — from a university

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