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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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. tear — to rip
  3. degree — an amount
  4. tear — from crying
  5. march — the month
  6. degree — temperature
  7. tear — from crying
  8. ground — crushed
  9. ground — the earth
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. chest — a box
  12. march — music
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. band — a ring
  15. band — a music group
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. ground — a position
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. march — the month
  21. degree — from a university
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. chest — of your body
  24. chest — of your body

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