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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. tear — from crying
  3. cold — an illness
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. cold — not warm
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. press — newspapers
  12. degree — from a university
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. press — to push
  15. tear — from crying
  16. tear — to rip
  17. degree — an amount
  18. press — a publisher

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