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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. tear — from crying
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. degree — an amount
  5. ruler — a monarch
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. degree — temperature
  8. club — for dancing
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. file — a tool
  13. club — a group
  14. file — a line of people
  15. press — to push
  16. file — a document
  17. press — a publisher
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. degree — from a university
  20. tear — to rip
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. tear — from crying
  24. press — newspapers

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