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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: saw · bat · lean · degree · cold · mate · bound · staff

  1. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. mate — to breed
  3. degree — an amount
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. staff — a stick
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. cold — not warm
  8. mate — a partner
  9. degree — from a university
  10. staff — employees
  11. cold — an illness
  12. mate — a friend
  13. bat — the animal
  14. degree — temperature
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. saw — the tool
  17. lean — to bend
  18. bound — obliged
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. bound — certain
  21. saw — the tool
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. lean — thin
  24. bound — tied together

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