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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. last — to go on
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. tear — from crying
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. last — final
  8. rock — music
  9. degree — temperature
  10. degree — an amount
  11. tear — to rip
  12. foot — a measure
  13. tear — from crying
  14. row — to paddle
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. rock — a stone
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wound — an injury
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. toast — a drink to someone
  21. row — a line
  22. toast — bread
  23. last — finally
  24. toast — the most admired

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