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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. rash — a series
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. mine — for digging
  6. rash — hasty
  7. fork — in a road
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. degree — an amount
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. object — a thing
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. object — to protest
  15. tear — from crying
  16. object — an aim
  17. bat — the animal
  18. degree — temperature
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. tear — from crying
  21. degree — from a university
  22. tear — to rip
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. bat — in an idiom

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