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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. lean — to bend
  5. fall — to drop
  6. rash — a series
  7. tear — to rip
  8. lean — thin
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. degree — temperature
  11. ball — a dance
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. tear — from crying
  14. fall — to drop
  15. degree — an amount
  16. clip — a video
  17. clip — for paper
  18. ball — a great time
  19. clip — to cut
  20. tear — from crying
  21. degree — from a university
  22. fall — the season
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. pitcher — a jug

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