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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. stand — to bear
  3. degree — an amount
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. fork — in a road
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. plane — a tool
  10. degree — temperature
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. pass — a permit
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. pass — to succeed
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. ball — a great time
  20. tear — from crying
  21. tear — from crying
  22. degree — from a university
  23. tear — to rip
  24. ball — a dance

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