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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: sharp · wake · cold · degree · straw · bowl · staff · season

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. cold — not warm
  5. season — of the year
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. season — in sport
  8. degree — temperature
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. sharp — clever
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. degree — an amount
  13. degree — from a university
  14. staff — a stick
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. staff — employees
  18. bowl — a football final
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. cold — an illness
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. staff — employees
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. wake — a trail

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