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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. swing — music
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. degree — from a university
  6. tear — from crying
  7. degree — temperature
  8. kid — to tease
  9. pit — a hole
  10. kid — child
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. last — finally
  13. craft — boats
  14. last — to go on
  15. craft — a skill
  16. date — the fruit
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. swing — to play on
  19. last — final
  20. swing — in golf
  21. pit — in a race
  22. degree — an amount
  23. tear — to rip
  24. craft — a handicraft

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