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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. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. rest — what's left
  3. degree — an amount
  4. tear — from crying
  5. bear — the animal
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. tear — from crying
  9. cold — not warm
  10. degree — from a university
  11. degree — temperature
  12. rush — hurry
  13. rest — what's left
  14. tear — to rip
  15. bear — the animal
  16. season — of the year
  17. rest — a break
  18. season — in sport
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. cold — an illness
  24. cold — the Cold War

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