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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. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. When will it ________________ you to start?
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — in cards
  2. cold — not warm
  3. suit — clothes
  4. degree — from a university
  5. can — a tin
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. lie — to recline
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. fine — all right
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. degree — temperature
  13. hand — help
  14. hand — in cards
  15. suit — to fit
  16. can — to be able to
  17. can — a tin
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. degree — an amount
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. fine — high quality
  23. cold — an illness
  24. fine — a penalty

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