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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 got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  14. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. tear — from crying
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. jam — a tight spot
  6. tear — to rip
  7. club — a group
  8. pass — a permit
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. tear — from crying
  11. club — for golf
  12. staff — a stick
  13. jam — to spread on bread
  14. jam — in traffic
  15. clip — a video
  16. staff — employees
  17. club — for dancing
  18. clip — for paper
  19. hand — help
  20. degree — an amount
  21. degree — from a university
  22. staff — employees
  23. degree — temperature
  24. clip — to cut

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