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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. stand — for spectators
  3. tear — from crying
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. fall — the season
  7. tear — to rip
  8. fall — to drop
  9. band — a ring
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. rule — government
  12. stand — to bear
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. snap — to click
  16. fork — in a road
  17. degree — from a university
  18. fall — to drop
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. degree — temperature
  21. tear — from crying
  22. degree — an amount
  23. rule — a law
  24. band — a music group

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