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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. When will it ________________ you to start?
  2. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — to fit
  2. suit — clothes
  3. hand — help
  4. tear — from crying
  5. craft — a skill
  6. tear — from crying
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. suit — in cards
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. tear — to rip
  13. cold — not warm
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. degree — temperature
  17. hand — in cards
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. craft — boats
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. degree — an amount
  23. degree — from a university
  24. hide — animal skin

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