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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  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. snap — to speak sharply
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. tear — from crying
  4. fine — high quality
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. snap — to click
  7. pound — a weight
  8. degree — from a university
  9. fine — all right
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. tear — to rip
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. last — final
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. last — to go on
  18. degree — temperature
  19. tear — from crying
  20. degree — an amount
  21. last — finally
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. leaves — lets stay
  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