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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 116 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: degree · suit · last · march · land · straw · drill · object

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. When will it ________________ you to start?
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. degree — from a university
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. degree — temperature
  5. object — to protest
  6. march — the month
  7. land — a country
  8. object — a thing
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. drill — the tool
  11. last — final
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. suit — in cards
  14. object — an aim
  15. land — ground
  16. suit — to fit
  17. last — to go on
  18. suit — clothes
  19. drill — a practice
  20. last — finally
  21. degree — an amount
  22. drill — army training
  23. land — to come down
  24. march — music

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