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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. degree — temperature
  3. tear — from crying
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. field — a subject
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. field — for sport
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wind — moving air
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. tear — from crying
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. chest — of your body
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. tear — to rip
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. degree — an amount
  21. field — farmland
  22. degree — from a university
  23. chest — of your body
  24. bat — the animal

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