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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. tear — from crying
  3. face — to confront
  4. board — to get on
  5. tear — to rip
  6. craft — boats
  7. degree — temperature
  8. tear — from crying
  9. craft — a skill
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. mine — for digging
  12. face — to point toward
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. bore — to tire
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. degree — from a university
  20. face — part of the head
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. board — a committee
  24. bore — to drill

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