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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  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. coach — a trainer
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. snap — to click
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. row — a line
  6. kid — child
  7. toast — a drink to someone
  8. row — to paddle
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. toast — the most admired
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. toast — bread
  15. kid — to tease
  16. tear — from crying
  17. degree — temperature
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. tear — from crying
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. degree — an amount
  22. degree — from a university
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  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