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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  20. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. degree — from a university
  3. pit — a hole
  4. net — in sport
  5. degree — an amount
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. net — for catching
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. tear — to rip
  12. kid — child
  13. pit — in a race
  14. perch — the fish
  15. degree — temperature
  16. kid — to tease
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. tear — from crying
  19. firm — a company
  20. firm — steady
  21. chair — a leader
  22. firm — decided
  23. net — after costs
  24. perch — for a bird

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