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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. last — to go on
  4. tear — to rip
  5. drill — a practice
  6. drill — the tool
  7. degree — an amount
  8. last — final
  9. tear — from crying
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. prune — to trim
  12. degree — temperature
  13. last — finally
  14. chair — a leader
  15. drill — army training
  16. tear — from crying
  17. prune — to trim
  18. prune — the fruit

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