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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. snap — to click
  4. degree — temperature
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. stem — to come from
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. wake — a trail
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. degree — an amount
  15. degree — from a university
  16. tear — to rip
  17. tear — from crying
  18. snap — to snap out of it

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