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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. tear — from crying
  3. mark — a grade
  4. degree — an amount
  5. tear — to rip
  6. face — to confront
  7. kid — child
  8. rush — hurry
  9. net — in sport
  10. degree — temperature
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. degree — from a university
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. net — after costs
  15. kid — to tease
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. face — part of the head
  18. club — for dancing
  19. mark — a trace
  20. club — for golf
  21. tear — from crying
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. net — for catching
  24. club — a group

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