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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  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. rash — hasty
  2. rash — a series
  3. degree — an amount
  4. fall — the season
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. pound — a weight
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. deal — to handle
  9. tear — from crying
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. degree — from a university
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. fall — to drop
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. wake — a trail
  17. file — a document
  18. file — a tool
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. file — a line of people
  21. degree — temperature
  22. tear — to rip
  23. fall — to drop
  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