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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 120 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 had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. cold — an illness
  3. net — in sport
  4. tear — to rip
  5. deal — to handle
  6. row — to paddle
  7. degree — from a university
  8. degree — temperature
  9. cue — for pool
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. tear — from crying
  14. cue — a signal
  15. net — for catching
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. tear — from crying
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. net — after costs
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cue — a hint
  22. degree — an amount
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. row — a line

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