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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: lean · straw · spring · degree · squash · kid · race · cabinet

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. lean — to bend
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. race — a contest
  5. spring — a coil
  6. spring — of water
  7. degree — from a university
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. degree — temperature
  12. degree — an amount
  13. lean — thin
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. kid — to tease
  18. squash — to crush
  19. race — humankind
  20. spring — the season
  21. squash — the sport
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. kid — child

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