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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 120 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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. row — a line
  7. degree — temperature
  8. track — a song
  9. face — part of the head
  10. sharp — clever
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. degree — from a university
  14. kid — to tease
  15. track — to keep track
  16. pound — a weight
  17. row — to paddle
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. face — to confront
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. kid — child
  23. face — to point toward
  24. track — a path

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