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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 116 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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. file — a line of people
  3. degree — temperature
  4. degree — an amount
  5. file — a document
  6. rule — government
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. squash — to crush
  9. degree — from a university
  10. squash — the sport
  11. clip — a video
  12. rush — hurry
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. tear — to rip
  17. file — a tool
  18. tear — from crying
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. rule — a law
  21. clip — for paper
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. clip — to cut

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