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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. game — a match
  3. degree — temperature
  4. march — the month
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. saw — the tool
  9. saw — the tool
  10. degree — an amount
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. march — the month
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. degree — from a university
  15. game — wild animals
  16. rule — a law
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. tear — to rip
  19. rule — government
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. tear — from crying
  23. march — music
  24. rush — hurry

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