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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 120 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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  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. degree — temperature
  2. hand — help
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. chair — a leader
  5. kid — child
  6. tear — from crying
  7. key — for a lock
  8. tear — to rip
  9. key — in music
  10. stand — to bear
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. hand — in cards
  13. pitch — completely
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. degree — an amount
  16. degree — from a university
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. kid — to tease
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. key — the most important part
  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