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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. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. drill — the tool
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. tear — to rip
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. kid — child
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. tear — from crying
  9. degree — from a university
  10. degree — temperature
  11. wound — an injury
  12. chair — a leader
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. drill — army training
  15. craft — a skill
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. craft — boats
  19. degree — an amount
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. drill — a practice
  22. wound — an injury
  23. kid — to tease
  24. tear — from crying

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