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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. pitch — completely
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. wind — moving air
  7. degree — temperature
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. tear — from crying
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. perch — the fish
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. pass — a permit
  15. hand — in cards
  16. hand — help
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. tear — from crying
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. wind — moving air
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. degree — an amount
  24. tear — to rip

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