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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. land — ground
  4. spell — letters
  5. degree — an amount
  6. tear — from crying
  7. chair — a leader
  8. tear — from crying
  9. degree — from a university
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. spell — magic
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. spell — a short time
  18. land — to come down
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. land — a country
  21. degree — temperature
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. tear — to rip

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