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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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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. We're on a ________________ here.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — on a roll
  2. tear — from crying
  3. band — a music group
  4. roll — a list
  5. roll — a cake
  6. tear — from crying
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. scale — size or range
  9. cue — for pool
  10. degree — an amount
  11. cue — a signal
  12. row — a line
  13. chest — a box
  14. band — a ring
  15. scale — in music
  16. row — to paddle
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. tear — to rip
  19. degree — temperature
  20. degree — from a university
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. cue — a hint
  23. chest — of your body
  24. chest — of your body

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