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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. net — for catching
  3. bass — low music
  4. tear — to rip
  5. kid — child
  6. firm — a company
  7. degree — an amount
  8. mark — a grade
  9. degree — temperature
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. pitch — completely
  14. mark — a trace
  15. bass — the fish
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. net — after costs
  18. firm — steady
  19. tear — from crying
  20. firm — decided
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. degree — from a university
  23. net — in sport
  24. tear — from crying

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