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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.

Make a worksheet

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: date · wake · nail · chest · straw · mine · degree · bass

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  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. degree — an amount
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. date — the fruit
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. bass — the fish
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. chest — of your body
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. bass — low music
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. chest — of your body
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. degree — from a university
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. mine — for digging
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. degree — temperature
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. chest — a box
  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