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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. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. staff — employees
  4. rest — what's left
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. spell — magic
  7. tear — from crying
  8. rest — what's left
  9. spring — of water
  10. spring — a coil
  11. tear — from crying
  12. degree — temperature
  13. wound — an injury
  14. spring — the season
  15. spell — letters
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. spell — a short time
  18. tear — to rip
  19. degree — an amount
  20. wound — an injury
  21. stand — to bear
  22. rest — a break
  23. degree — from a university
  24. staff — a stick

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