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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. squash — the sport
  3. fall — to drop
  4. tear — from crying
  5. degree — an amount
  6. land — to come down
  7. land — ground
  8. pop — to visit
  9. present — there
  10. degree — from a university
  11. kid — child
  12. pop — soda
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. present — the time now
  15. pop — music
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. kid — to tease
  18. land — a country
  19. squash — to crush
  20. present — a gift
  21. tear — from crying
  22. fall — to drop
  23. degree — temperature
  24. fall — the season

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