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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. degree — temperature
  3. stand — to bear
  4. cold — not warm
  5. club — for dancing
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. wake — a trail
  8. degree — from a university
  9. squash — to crush
  10. squash — the sport
  11. tear — from crying
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. degree — an amount
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. tear — from crying
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. club — for golf
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. club — a group
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. cold — an illness

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