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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 felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  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. chest — of your body
  3. rush — hurry
  4. tear — to rip
  5. degree — from a university
  6. chest — of your body
  7. chest — a box
  8. swing — to play on
  9. drill — the tool
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. drill — army training
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. tear — from crying
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. degree — temperature
  16. drill — a practice
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. pound — a weight
  22. swing — in golf
  23. swing — music
  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