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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. court — for sport
  4. wind — moving air
  5. bore — to drill
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. degree — temperature
  9. tear — to rip
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. court — of law
  12. tear — from crying
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. file — a document
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. degree — an amount
  19. rush — hurry
  20. bore — to tire
  21. court — of a king
  22. tear — from crying
  23. file — a tool
  24. file — a line of people

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