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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: straw · staff · fall · drill · fan · mouse · spring · degree

  1. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. spring — a coil
  3. degree — an amount
  4. spring — of water
  5. fall — to drop
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. staff — employees
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. fall — to drop
  16. drill — the tool
  17. staff — employees
  18. degree — temperature
  19. spring — the season
  20. degree — from a university
  21. staff — a stick
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. drill — a practice
  24. drill — army training

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