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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  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. cold — not warm
  2. sharp — clever
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. rock — a stone
  5. tear — from crying
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. kid — to tease
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. cold — an illness
  11. degree — temperature
  12. lie — to recline
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. tear — to rip
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. degree — from a university
  18. rock — music
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. degree — an amount
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. kid — child
  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