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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. cell — a phone
  3. degree — from a university
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. degree — temperature
  6. chest — a box
  7. kick — in football
  8. lean — thin
  9. tear — from crying
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. degree — an amount
  12. tear — to rip
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. chest — of your body
  15. land — ground
  16. land — to come down
  17. chest — of your body
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. bark — to shout
  22. cell — in biology
  23. tear — from crying
  24. lean — to bend

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