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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. object — a thing
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. rock — music
  6. tear — from crying
  7. degree — an amount
  8. cell — in biology
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. cell — a phone
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. tear — to rip
  13. chest — of your body
  14. degree — temperature
  15. rash — a series
  16. rash — hasty
  17. object — an aim
  18. chest — a box
  19. degree — from a university
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. tear — from crying
  22. rock — a stone
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. chest — of your body

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