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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 116 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. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. degree — temperature
  5. tear — from crying
  6. squash — the sport
  7. bat — the animal
  8. face — to point toward
  9. rule — a law
  10. rash — hasty
  11. degree — from a university
  12. rash — a series
  13. face — to confront
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. clip — to cut
  16. tear — from crying
  17. clip — for paper
  18. face — part of the head
  19. rule — government
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. clip — a video
  22. degree — an amount
  23. tear — to rip
  24. squash — to crush

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