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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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. tear — from crying
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. degree — temperature
  5. cold — an illness
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. tear — from crying
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. degree — an amount
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. tear — to rip
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. band — a music group
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. row — a line
  18. band — a ring
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. cold — not warm
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. degree — from a university

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