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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: bay · straw · mine · deal · degree · cue · face · bass

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. bass — low music
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. degree — temperature
  6. cue — for pool
  7. mine — for digging
  8. face — to confront
  9. cue — a signal
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. deal — to handle
  12. face — part of the head
  13. face — to point toward
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. cue — a hint
  16. bass — the fish
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. degree — an amount
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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