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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. band — a ring
  5. pitch — completely
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. cue — for pool
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. cue — a signal
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. tear — to rip
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. band — a music group
  16. tear — from crying
  17. degree — from a university
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. chair — a leader
  21. degree — temperature
  22. cue — a hint
  23. bat — the animal
  24. degree — an amount

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