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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. fine — high quality
  3. kid — to tease
  4. row — a line
  5. tear — from crying
  6. row — to paddle
  7. tear — to rip
  8. degree — from a university
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. fine — all right
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. rest — what's left
  14. rest — what's left
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. vault — a safe
  17. rest — a break
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. kid — child
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. degree — temperature
  24. tear — from crying

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