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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. rush — hurry
  3. degree — from a university
  4. drill — the tool
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. degree — temperature
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. drill — a practice
  10. tear — to rip
  11. dip — to sink
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. deal — to handle
  14. kid — child
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. tear — from crying
  18. branch — a division
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. degree — an amount
  22. tear — from crying
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. drill — army training

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