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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: rock · straw · firm · bowl · clip · face · bat · degree

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. firm — a company
  3. degree — from a university
  4. firm — steady
  5. face — to point toward
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. rock — music
  10. face — to confront
  11. clip — to cut
  12. degree — an amount
  13. clip — for paper
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. clip — a video
  18. bowl — a football final
  19. degree — temperature
  20. rock — a stone
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. bat — the animal
  23. face — part of the head
  24. firm — decided

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