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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. wound — an injury
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. season — in sport
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. rash — hasty
  9. season — of the year
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. degree — from a university
  12. plane — a tool
  13. mark — a trace
  14. degree — an amount
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. tear — to rip
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. rash — a series
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. tear — from crying
  21. mark — a grade
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. tear — from crying
  24. degree — temperature

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