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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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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: wind · bulb · cap · degree · straw · hide · court · wake

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. bulb — for light
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wake — a trail
  7. court — of a king
  8. degree — temperature
  9. bulb — for light
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. cap — a hat
  13. wind — moving air
  14. court — of law
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. court — for sport
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. cap — a lid
  21. cap — of ice
  22. degree — an amount
  23. degree — from a university
  24. straw — a straw man

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