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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. bound — tied together
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. shower — rain
  6. lean — to bend
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. kid — to tease
  9. bound — certain
  10. snap — to click
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. lean — thin
  15. bound — obliged
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. kid — child
  18. lie — to recline
  19. degree — an amount
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. degree — temperature
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. shower — to wash

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